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Transplant medications cause toddler to lose hearing, volunteers needed to help raise funds |
| Baltimore, Md., Oct. 23, 2009 – Hannah Bhagwandeen, who will turn 2 in December, has already undergone two liver transplants. In order for the transplanted liver to remain active and healthy, Hannah must take anti-rejection medications daily. These medications have caused young Hannah to lose hearing in both ears. |
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| Publish Date: 05:23PM 10/22/09 |
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Baltimore, Md., Oct. 23, 2009 – Hannah Bhagwandeen, who will turn 2 in December, has already undergone two liver transplants. In order for the transplanted liver to remain active and healthy, Hannah must take anti-rejection medications daily. These medications have caused young Hannah to lose hearing in both ears.
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Hannah suffered from biliary atresia, a very rare liver condition affecting one in 20,000 children. The Bhagwandeen family was forced to move to the U.S. on a medical visa because doctors in their native country did not have the capabilities to treat her condition. She first received a donated portion of her father’s liver last year, but complications led to that liver’s rejection. After enduring three additional surgeries, doctors knew she needed another liver transplant. In March, she underwent a second transplant surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Doctors believe a cochlear implant, a surgically implanted electronic device, will allow Hannah to regain hearing in both ears. The Bhagwandeen family knows this surgery is necessary, but they do not have the funds to pay for it, nor do they have volunteers to help with a fundraising campaign.
The average cost for the entire procedure, including the post-operative aural rehabilitation process, exceeds $140,000. While some organizations offer services to assist with these expenses, Hannah is ineligible for assistance because she is not a U.S. citizen. Hannah’s family is also facing significant expenses related to her transplants. A liver transplant costs approximately $520,000. For the rest of her life, Hannah will need follow-up care and vital anti-rejection medications, which can cost $2,000 to $5,000 per month. As of June, the Bhagwandeens owed $1 million for physicians’ fees, hospital costs, medications, labs, follow-up care, her feeding pump and more.
Hannah’s parents turned to the National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) for assistance in alleviating some of the financial burdens related to Hannah’s transplant. NFT is a nonprofit organization that helps patients raise funds to pay for transplant-related expenses. Hannah and her family do not know many people in the U.S. who can volunteer to assist their fundraising efforts. Most of the contacts they have made are with families at the Ronald McDonald House in Baltimore, and those families are dealing with their own struggles, leaving limited time and resources to volunteer on behalf of Hannah.
“It is incredibly difficult to see families struggle with these enormous expenses,” said Lauren Wilmer, NFT fundraising consultant. “Many people don’t realize the ongoing costs transplant patients face for the rest of their lives, or the potential complications patients may face as a result of these critical medications. Hannah is such a sweet little girl facing so many obstacles. It breaks my heart to see what this family is going through, especially living in a foreign country with so few family and friends to help them.”
To become a volunteer, please call Lauren Wilmer at NFT at 1-800-489-3863.
To make a tax-deductible donation in honor of Hannah, please send a contribution to the NFT Maryland Liver Fund, 5350 Poplar Ave., Suite 430, Memphis, TN 38119. Please be sure to write “in honor of Hannah Bhagwandeen” on the memo line. Secure donations also can be made online at www.transplants.org. Donors should click on “Patients We Help” to locate Bhagwandeen.
About NFT
NFT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Memphis, Tenn. that has been helping transplant patients overcome financial obstacles since 1983. NFT provides fundraising expertise and advocacy to transplant patients by organizing fundraising campaigns in the patients’ own communities. NFT’s fundraising campaigns have generated nearly $56 million to assist patients.
NFT assists more than 1,000 transplant candidates and recipients nationwide. For more information about NFT, please call 800-489-3863 or visit www.transplants.org.
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