People answer prayer for a miracle to save girl

liver411

People answer prayer for a miracle to save girl



Associated Press

Published Dec 23 2001



ROCHESTER, MINN. -- A month after the family of Jeremaia Matubis prayed to God for the little girl's recovery from a liver disease, people started to make it happen.



First came the Chicago-based Bridges Across the Atlantic, which arranges medical care for children in developing countries.



Bridges got the Mayo Clinic interested in Jeremaia's case, and Mayo officials called the Matubis family in the Philippines to say they might be able to help if Jeremaia could come to Rochester.



Jeremaia was desperately ill with biliary atresia, a liver disease in which the ducts that take bile from the organ are closed or absent. Doctors in her country said she needed a liver transplant to save her life; such a transplant was not available in the Philippines.



Jeremaia's mother, Jesselou Matubis, needed three weeks to prepare for the trip. She did it understanding there was no guarantee her infant daughter would receive the transplant.



Jesselou applied for Jeremaia's visa, wrote letters to airlines in the two countries for donations of plane tickets, sought financial assistance from the World Children's Transplant Fund and helped her family raise funds in the Philippines.



The Matubis family, including Jesselou's parents, Jess and Lulu, did media interviews in the Philippines to raise awareness. They did more interviews in the United States to reach Filipino communities in Chicago and California.



"Even though we live in this crazy world, there are still good people out there," Jesselou said.



Jesselou and Jeremaia flew to Rochester March 15, 2000, along with one of Jeremaia's doctors and one of Jesselou's sisters, who has the same blood type as Jeremaia.



Two weeks after the family arrived in the United States, a liver from a child became available.



Mayo doctors performed the six-hour transplant surgery March 30, 2000. Jeremaia stayed in the hospital from March 15 to April 17 and then spent a year at Ronald McDonald House in Rochester. She encountered some setbacks during her recovery, including pneumonia, tonsillitis, inactive hepatitis and three episodes of minor organ rejection.



All seems to be going well now. Except for routine checkups, Jeremaia hasn't returned to the hospital since May.



Mother and daughter now live in a house in Rochester along with Jesselou's two older sisters, Yasmin and Hiyas, who attend college and help care for Jeremaia.



Jesselou has decided to become a nurse. She enrolled this fall at Rochester Community and Technical College. She said she hopes to work for the Mayo Clinic someday.



Meanwhile, her family in the Philippines tries to help other babies like Jeremaia.



Jess and Lulu Matubis started a foundation, Biliary Atresia Babies Information, Education and Support, for families with children with the disease.



"I hope she realizes that everything that happened to her will be an inspiration to other families going through this," Jesselou said.