The Boun Lod Fund

Things have gone well for Boun Lod since her last surgeries in March.

The wounds on her face are healing up nicely. To reduce scarring, Boun Lod wears a hard plastic mask except when she’s eating. While the mask isn’t very comfortable, especially on hot days, she wears it without complaint.

The Philadelphia Shriners Hospital has completed Boun Lod’s prosthetic arms, and she has been in to have them fitted and adjusted.

Having lived her whole life without arms, and being able to do many things with her feet, Boun Lod is not really sure what to make of these new appendages. She says the prosthetics are heavy, but compared to no arms at all I guess that’s hardly surprising.

Boun Lod with her arms and face mask.

Once the graft donor sites on her back and the wounds from her latest surgery are healed up, she’ll really be ready to start learning to use her new arms.

Up until she returned to Cincinnati for her latest surgery, a teacher associated with the Philadelphia school system visited Boun Lod every Monday for one-on-one sessions. Boun Lod was even more excited when she was able to attend regular classes with other children. In September, Boun Lod will start kindergarten in Philadelphia.

On Friday, July 17, Boun Lod had additional surgery on her arms and sides. The surgery went well, and she was happily eating chicken nuggets for dinner that evening. Boun Lod was released from hospital the next day, and the family moved back to the Shriners Parent’s House. Everything was fine at Boun Lod’s check-up the following Friday, and the family returned to Philadelphia on July 25.

Boun Lod’s next surgery is scheduled for early November. The surgery will be to make further repairs to her face and neck.

With additional surgery scheduled for this fall, Boun Lod and her parents needed to extend their US visas. With help from the Cincinnati Shriners hospital we completed the paperwork, and six-month visa extensions (until April 2010) have been issued. We hope and expect that this will enough time to complete this round of treatment. Boun Lod and her parents have been away from home for close to a year now, and they’re anxious to get back to see family and friends, and to return to work.

Air Canada, through its Kid’s Horizons programme, continues to be a great supporter of Boun Lod. By this spring, Boun Lod and her family had used all the travel miles that Kid’s Horizons had originally agreed to provide. We’re very pleased to report that the programme has agreed to provide the additional flights that Boun Lod and her parents will need to complete her treatment. Many thanks to the Kid’s Horizons programme!

On that note, I’d like to encourage everyone with Aeroplan miles to consider making a donation to the Kid’s Horizons programme. If you have extra miles, if your miles are about to expire, or even if you just want to support a great cause, please check out the Kid’s Horizons website: http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/community/kids/index.html.

Boun Lod’s parents remain very pleased with, and grateful for, the excellent care Boun Lod has been getting in both Cincinnati and Philadelphia, and for all the help and support they have received. Boun Lod’s mother says it’s “a dream come true”. Thanks again everyone for helping to give Boun Lod a chance for a better life!

Noi, Boun Lod, and Via at the Shriners Parent House after Boun Lod's surgery.

This entry was posted on August 6, 2009 at 3:51 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.