Read our powered by our community 🙌 Check out our 🙌
Meet another patient

Watsi logo blueWatsi

Success! Estherline from Haiti raised $1,500 to fund heart surgery prep.

Estherline
100%
  • $1,500 raised, $0 to go
$1,500
raised
$0
to go
Fully funded
Estherline's treatment was fully funded on January 2, 2018.

Photo of Estherline post-operation

September 18, 2017

Estherline underwent heart surgery.

During surgery, Estherline’s mitral valve was repaired and it now pumps blood through her heart and body more normally. She should be able to lead a near-normal life with far fewer symptoms than she had before surgery.

She says, “I have made many new friends in the hospital and I am going to miss them, but am excited to go home and start school!”

During surgery, Estherline's mitral valve was repaired and it now pumps blood through her heart and body more normally. She should be able t...

Read more
July 6, 2017

Estherline is a 14-year-old girl who lives with her parents and four siblings in Haiti. Before she became sick, Estherline enjoyed going to school and church, and playing with her brothers and sisters.

Several years ago, Estherline contracted rheumatic fever, which caused damage to her heart. She developed a condition called mitral and aortic regurgitation, where blood backs up into her heart and does not properly circulate through her body. This condition causes Estherline to experience shortness of breath, painful breathing, fatigue, and swelling of the legs. If left untreated, her condition could become fatal.

Seeking treatment through our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance, Estherline is scheduled to undergo heart surgery to correct her condition on July 6. Although Estherline’s transportation to our medical partner’s care center has already been funded by Watsi, she is still in need of $1,500 to cover the cost of her heart surgery prep. The organization, Have a Heart Cayman, is also subsidizing Estherline’s surgery, donating $27,000 to cover the rest of her medical bills.

“I will pray that God blesses everyone that is helping our family through our daughter’s illness,” her mother says.

Estherline is a 14-year-old girl who lives with her parents and four siblings in Haiti. Before she became sick, Estherline enjoyed going to ...

Read more

Estherline's Timeline

  • July 6, 2017
    PROFILE SUBMITTED

    Estherline was submitted by Owen Robinson, Executive Director at Haiti Cardiac Alliance.

  • August 3, 2017
    PROFILE PUBLISHED

    Estherline's profile was published to start raising funds.

  • August 6, 2017
    TREATMENT OCCURRED

    Estherline received treatment at Health City Cayman Islands in Cayman Islands. Medical partners often provide care to patients accepted by Watsi before those patients are fully funded, operating under the guarantee that the cost of care will be paid for by donors.

  • September 18, 2017
    TREATMENT UPDATE

    Estherline's treatment was successful. Read the update.

  • January 2, 2018
    FULLY FUNDED

    Estherline's treatment was fully funded.

Treatment
Overseas Prep and Transportation
  • Cost Breakdown
  • Diagnosis
  • Procedure
On average, it costs $1,980 for Estherline's treatment
Subsidies fund $480 and Watsi raises the remaining $1,500
Hospital Fees
$0
Medical Staff
$450
Medication
$360
Supplies
$0
Travel
$900
Labs
$180
Other
$90
  • Symptoms
  • Impact on patient's life
  • Cultural or regional significance

​What kinds of symptoms do patients experience before receiving treatment?

When a hole exists in the heart, a physician can hear a buzzing noise, or murmur, in the child's chest as blood passes through the hole at high velocity. The child's parents might notice that their son or daughter cannot keep up with other children in daily activities. In severe cases, the lack of oxygen in the bloodstream can lead to dramatic symptoms, such as blue lips and tongue, clubbed fingers and toes, and heart failure. The patients treated by Haiti Cardiac Alliance tend to fall into two categories. They are either born with some type of hole or defect in the heart, or they develop valve disease as a result of an untreated strep throat infection (rheumatic fever). Patients with rheumatic valve disease experience swelling of the abdomen and extremities, as the heart tries to circulate blood through the body despite the valve's dysfunction.

​What is the impact on patients’ lives of living with these conditions?

Virtually all of the conditions treated at Haiti Cardiac Alliance will eventually lead to death without surgery, the majority of them within one to two years. In the meantime, patients experience heart failure as their hearts struggle to compensate for the presence of leaks or other defects. In most conditions, the heart becomes fatigued, limiting the child's ability to be active, go to school, and participate in daily life.

What cultural or regional factors affect the treatment of these conditions?

Families in Haiti often have complex cultural mechanisms for understanding cardiac illnesses and their causes, sometimes involving voudou or other religious belief systems. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of Haitian families in our medical partner's program also engage with the medical explanations and treatment of these conditions. Parents are willing and cooperative participants in their child's treatment.

  • Process
  • Impact on patient's life
  • Risks and side-effects
  • Accessibility
  • Alternatives

What does the treatment process look like?

The patient is first referred to our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance (HCA), by a pediatrician or another medical practitioner who detects symptoms that might be cardiac in nature. HCA staff then perform an echocardiogram to diagnose the cardiac condition. If surgery is required, the child joins a triaged waitlist to be placed for surgery with partner hospitals. It can sometimes take 6-12 months to move through this waitlist. During this period, HCA provides periodic cardiac checkups, changing the patient's triage position as appropriate. The child and his/her guardian then travel to the hospital with an HCA social worker. Typically, the child spends 4-5 days in or near the hospital prior to surgery for testing and examinations. After surgery, he or she spends several more days as an inpatient prior to being discharged. When the child is strong enough to travel, usually after several more weeks, he/she returns home to Haiti. HCA provides regular cardiac checkups for at least five years postoperatively before the final discharge from their program.

What is the impact of this treatment on the patient’s life?

These treatments are almost always life-saving in nature. These cardiac conditions are not survivable over the long-term without surgery. Within weeks after surgery, the patient should notice a difference in energy level. Many patients also undergo a growth spurt and/or gain significant weight after a surgery.

What potential side effects or risks come with this treatment?

The risk of death during or shortly after an open-heart surgical procedure is about 3%. Other risks, though rare, include stroke and post-operative infection. In a small percentage of cases, the material used to patch the hole "blows," and a follow-up surgery is necessary to re-patch the defect.

How accessible is treatment in the area? What is the typical journey like for a patient to receive care?

Patients come to Haiti Cardiac Alliance (HCA) from the entirety of Haiti. This can involve three days of travel in buses, pickup trucks, or even on horseback. There is no cardiac surgery of any kind available in Haiti outside of the HCA treatment network.

What are the alternatives to this treatment?

In general, patients are treated with medications to prevent heart failure until they are ready to travel. Patients may also seek care from traditional healers, who may use liquids and powders derived from local plants and roots.

Meet another patient you can support

100% of your donation funds life-changing surgery.

Vanis

Vanis is a 60 year old small-scale farmer. She and her husband - who passed away in 2021 - had eleven children, of whom nine are still alive. Vanis had to leave school because of a lack of the fees necessary to remain in school, and of her children, only her youngest has been able to be educated. Over 20 years ago, Vanis began to experience troubling symptoms, including a small neck swelling that later started progressing in size. She initially thought it was a temporary condition, and resorted to using herbs, which did not help to relieve her symptoms. After delivering her first five children, she underwent a thyroidectomy, and she felt better. However, her symptoms recurred after she gave birth to six more children, and this time, the swelling was larger than it had ever been. She finds that she is unable to carry loads on her head, and she will occasionally experience difficulty breathing. Vanis has been diagnosed with a non-toxic, multinodular goiter, and she needs surgery to resolve her condition. Her family cannot afford to pay for her treatment, but our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, has stepped up to help Vanis access the care that she needs. They are requesting $333 to fund Vanis' procedure, which is scheduled to take place on December 3rd, at Rushoroza Hospital, and which will ensure that Vanis' symptoms do not get worse over time. Vanis says: “I pray that I may be considered for treatment so that I may live a normal life once again. I will continue with farming as soon as possible.”

40% funded

40%funded
$136raised
$197to go

Meet another patient you can support

100% of your donation funds life-changing surgery.