Wei Hao is currently being fostered by an expat family in Tianjin who have committed to fostering him until he is adopted. His adoption paperwork began 2 months ago and we hope that by the winter of 2009, he will have a permanent, loving family to call his own. Just as he was beginning to adjust to family life, life threw us a curve ball.

The few months before he was fostered in Tianjin, he seemed to be healthy and happy despite his swollen stomach. The doctors said the size of his stomach was not a problem but it clearly was not getting any smaller. After moving to Tianjin, WH began to have health problems and had to be admitted to the hospital for inpatient care. WH began to lose his appetite, get fevers, his stomach seemed to become even larger and his liver function was poor.

After several readmissions, blood tests, CT scans, and ultrasounds, the doctors suspected the cause of his failing health was portal vein thrombosis and scheduled a vein angioplasty. Portal vein thrombosis means that there is a narrowing or blockage of the portal vein which as a result causes pressure in the portal vein to increase (portal hypertension). The pressure causes the spleen to enlarge and can cause fluid accumulation in the abdomen if the liver is also congested which all occurred in WH’s case.

Before the angioplasty was performed, the doctors gave him an x-ray angiography which showed that blood flow through the portal vein was absent as suspected. An x-ray angiography takes x-rays of the veins after a special dye (visible on x-rays) is injected into the portal vein.

The angiography showed that there was indeed a blockage (either a stricture or a blot clot) and so they performed an angioplasty which is a procedure in which a balloon is used to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels. The third time they blew up the balloon and then removed it from the vein, the vein was unclogged, untwisted or stretched enough that the blood began right away to flow normally.

After the angioplasty, WH’s liver seems to be functioning better and his stomach and liver have both slowly decreased in size. The most recent blood tests show that he is improving. Hopefully he will continue to feel better and and will return to a normal life of Teletubbies, learning to walk (or at least having the confidence to walk on his own), and playing the piano.

As his medical needs continue, we are always happy to receive donations for Wei Hao’s ongoing medical and living costs. His costs come to approximately RMB2,800 per month if he is well and if his liver is functioning as it should. In September and October 2008, his tests, inpatient care and the angioplasty have totalled RMB28,000.