Kaung Khant Hein, a baby boy, born via caesarian on 1 December 2014, on 1st of December 2014 in Malady General Hospital. His father supports the family as a motor mechanic earning 100,000Kyat (100 USD) a month, which covers living expenses but is not enough for emergencies or medical treatment.

The baby was both breast and formula milk fed and was doing well. When he was four weeks old however, his parents noticed a yellowish tinge to his skin so took him to a clinic in Malady, where the medical staff said he had an enlarged liver and gave him. This had no effect however so his parents took him to Mae Sot Hospital.

Kaung Khant Hein was diagnosed with biliary atresia – an obstructed bile duct, and if it went left untreated, excessive bile would accumulate in the liver, causing jaundice and other problems, eventually leading to death. Kaung Khant Hein needed immediate surgery. Not being able to afford the operation the family was referred to Mae Tao Clinic (MTC) and to BCMF for financial assistance.

They went to Chiang Mai on the 11th of February 2015, and after extensive tests, Kaung Khant Hein was admitted to hospital on 19th February for a 5 hour operation. The mother recalled waiting outside the theatre, very anxious, until the doctor came out and gave her a thumb up sign, indicating successful surgery. Although relieved she was also still worried when her baby was kept in ICU with various tubes attached to him.

Thankfully Kaung Khant Hein was transferred to the ordinary was on 21 February 2015 and started feeding normally on 23 February 2015. Two weeks later on 12 March 2015 Kaung Khant Hein was discharged from hospital with two months’ worth of oral medication and a follow up appointment.

Kaung Khant Hein’s mother recalls the doctor and nurses being very nice to them. Communication was managed as although his mother could not speak Thai, there was a CDF (Child’s Dream Foundation) staff member helping with the translation. The mother was grateful to live in the patient house in Chiang Mai while Kaung Khant Hein was in ICU where she could talk and work together with the other Burmese people there.

Kaung Khant Hein recovered well after surgery and soon got his appetite and energy back. His mother knows that her baby would not have survived without surgery, and she becomes very emotional when talking about that.

She hopes that Kaung Khant Hein will be educated and understand everything better than she and her husband and be able to help other people in the future.

The mother says that she is 36 years old, so not planning to have another child. She will focus on taking care of Kaung Khant Hein and giving him a good education. She is staying in Malady now, to access medical care and future follow-ups. Later, she wants to move back to the village and take care of her home shop again. Currently, her uncle is taking care of the shop.

“We would have no hope if there was no program like this to support the treatment, now we may be able to start saving money, we would like to thank the donors very, very much’’. At this she starts crying. “Without treatment, my son could only die. In our religion, we pray in front of the Buddha twice a day. I will pray for you all every day. I would like to give special thanks to Kanchana, who established the program, and to all the donors and people who gave us support along the way. I’ll pray for you and all the patients.”