Laryssa is finally home!
It's been 2 weeks now that Laryssa left the hospital and went home with her mother!
She was scheduled to leave mid-September, but the oximeter that the hospital would lend her needed to go through maintenance, and there was also the no-break subject, which was resolved by Dr. Vergara himself.
I do not have many details at this moment, since lately I could not have as much contact with her as I wished, due to my own personal affairs, but I will try to satisfy everybody's curiosity as much as possible.
She now lives in a nearby town, called 'Pedro Leopoldo', about 40km from Belo Horizonte, near our International Airport (Confins). This is the link for the town's site:
http://www.cidadesmineiras.com.br/pedro ... opoldo.htm
And this is the link for Laryssa's neighbourhood (by my guess, only...):
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&g ... 36178&z=15
If you zoom the map, you may see a lagoon, called 'Lagoa de Santo Antonio', which the neighbourhood where she lives now.
I was told by Vera, the Social Assistant, that the house is good and clean, though humble, and she was very glad to find that conditions were very satisfatory for Laryssa.There is a Family Health Service Station nearby, and also a Nursery where Laryssa now spends her mornings, in order to allow some rest for her mother.
Laryssa's moving out of the hospital was like a war campaign preparation: there were dozens of people involved, many reunions and lots of training, until they finally released her.
First, the hospital's social assistant made contact with Pedro Leopoldo's "Conselho Tutelar" (a public council, which exists in every town in Brasil, that oversees children and teenagers matters, like adoptions, abandon, abuse etc). I was present at the first meeting with them, in the end of August, when Laryssa's case was presented to them, and they were convoked to join efforts in order to allow her move.
Then, the Conselho Tutelar contacted the Family Health Service Station, and also investigated the Nursery conditions. After that, the hospital, through Dr. Vergara, trained people from the Family Health Service Station and the Nursery, about Laryssa's condition and also about the BiPap operation.
Finally, when the oximeter arrived from the maintenance, and the no-break was ready, she went home.
She will return briefly to the hospital this week for an thourough medical examination. Altough she lives with her mother, and under her mother's care, the hospital will keep on monitoring her continuously, also health conditions as her mother's care of her as well.
She is in very good health condition, and very happy to be out of the hospital (although she was not unhappy there, where she received lots of love and care from so many different people). These same people have been visiting her at home - nurses, technicians, service people, and they all tell she is very happy, and had adapted very well to her new life, going every day to the nursery and playing with other healthy children.
When I return home I intend to visit next week (I am in Monterrey, Mexico, during this week), and will give her the picture of CpapTalk's forum people (and if you want your picture included, please send a PM this week), and also will provide recent photos of our Little Princess.
I think that something that seemed so impossible or distant just a few months ago - allowing a beautiful, clever and gentle girl, forced to live her very early years almost locked inside an ICU room, to go home and lead a normal life - became a dream come through because there is people all over the world that knows that love - the feeling, and love translated in actions can make the difference. I could not say only "thank you" to you guys, this is one of those moments when we discover we have not words enough to express all that we feel...
Of course the story is not over, and I (and also I dare say, you all as well) am deeply bonded by the heart to this girl, and we will be in touch as much as possible.
As Dra. Cacau would say, "Blue kisses on the tip of the nose to you all...!"
N. Baumgratz
Belo Horizonte - MG
Brasil
