So much has been accomplished on this trip. We have awakened early and hurried off to plan our future here in China and see children during work breaks who can use all the help they can get.

So far we have met with officials from BaYi Children’s Hospital, Beijing United Hospital (BJU), Chunmiao Foundation and Philips Healthcare. 

Our team will work side-by-side with doctors and nurses at both hospitals (and probably others) as we train advanced techniques to treat heart disease. Dr Zhou and his team at BaYi, Dr Rutstein and his team at BJU are amazing, service-focused people!

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It is Tuesday afternoon and I have been sitting in Dr Zhou’s office in BaYi Children’s Hospital for seven hours. 

Dr Langley is observing a surgical case that Dr Zhou is performing, Dr Armsby is in the heart cath lab with two cases and Tanya is in the Pediatric ICU observing the nurses at work.

I have no internet access and have been able to furiously clean up notes from our many meetings, as well as create a ton of working tools and documents which detail our plans with our various partners here in China.

As I type, I can hear a woman crying outside of Dr Zhou’s office. I can not understand the words a friend or family member of hers is speaking into a cell phone. But even language barriers can not block the raw emotions felt by a family member as their child suffers. 

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It is Monday night in Beijing and we just returned from an evening Hot Pot dinner in the Hutongs, Beijing. I can say confidently that our heads are swimming with plans and to-dos much like the Hot Pot at dinner tonight was swimming with meat and veggies!

The last two days of meetings in Beijing has further deepened the relationships forged here last fall, while establishing new ones, as well.

We have spent time working with Dr Zhou and the team at BaYi Children’s Hospital putting the general framework for training and long-term collaboration between our teams.

In addition, we spent a lot of time today talking with Dr Liu Dong, founder of Chunmiao Foundation, Brent Johnson and many others from Beijing United Family Hospital. 

And we also met today with senior team members from Philips Digital, one of the leading medical device manufacturers. They have agree to provide suport our work and provide medical devices.

But as of now, I am going to have to sign off. I’ve already drifted  off to sleep a time or two and want to adequately relate all that has happened. Stay tuned and I’ll get you all a more substantial update soon!

We awoke this morning to a Beijing thinly frosted with a layer of snow.

I have never been in Beijing in the dead of winter, so that is a new experience for me. Not that it seems to daunt the locals. Taxis and cargo trucks fly through the streets without concern, with the same list of to-dos that they would normally have.

We arrived last night, enjoyed dinner with Dennis Yang and Susan Song, our longtime friends who have been a great help so far.

Now after a restful sleep, we will spend the day meeting with Dr Zhou and his team from BaYi Children’s Hospital, and Brent Johnson, Dr Liu and some others from Beijing United Hospital and Lily from Little Flower Foster Home.

Looking forward to a great day!

A new year brings new opportunities, new challenges and new goals. And while new year’s resolutions are always good, it’s the old ones that tend to be the most interesting. In our case, our long-held resolve to help China’s children is driving the next phase for Little Hearts Medical.

Our team’s trips in October and November have shown us the reality of the opportunities we have as part of a growing and global family that is increasingly invested in helping children in need. We returned home with relationships in place that we’ll never forget and that can mean a life and death difference to many children in China.

While we knew there is a big need in China, our plan upon returning home was to not try and offer work where our presence would be seen as intrusive. If the need is there and the relationships prove to be strong, we decided, then there is an opportunity for longterm involvement in China. In other words, keep an eye on the future, but don’t make decisions too quickly on things we need to learn a lot about.

All of us returned home with the same desire: to continue working hard for China’s orphans who suffer from heart disease.

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Dr Steve Langley, Director of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, arrived in Beijing, China on Sunday to continue the work of the Little Hearts team.

He and his daughter were met at the airport by Lily Lu, from Little Flower Foster Home, Dr Zhou GengXu, Director of Cardiac Surgery at BaYi Children’s Hospital, and his son, along with Dr Yu Wen, a Cardiologist from BaYi Children’s Hospital, and her son.

Even after a long flight, Dr Langley was eager to spend some time with them and they all enjoyed an amazing meal at a Peking Duck restaurant that has been in business for more than 600 years. Lily described it like a warm family dinner!

Already, the week’s work schedule is filling up and Dr. Langley talked with Dr Zhou and Dr Yu about several babies they would like him to see. Dr Zhou and Dr Langley have been in touch by email since May shortly after Mike and Tanya Lee brought their newly adopted son, Jian Jun, to Doernbecher. Two weeks after returning home to the US, the Lee’s newest son underwent an emergency open heart surgery by Dr Langley to place a BT Shunt and provide more bloodflow to his lungs. Jian Jun is diagnosed with Single Ventricle Congenital Heart Disease.

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