A beautiful little baby boy, was born with an imperforate anus (no hole where his anus should be). This meant that without treatment, he would have a total blockage resulting in swelling and pain. He required the blockage to be repaired, initially by the formation of a temporary colostomy, which brings the end of the bowel to an opening in the skin of the abdomen where a bag is attached to catch the bowel motion. This means that he will subsequently require a major procedure to form an anus in his lower bowel and to close the colostomy. He is like over 150 children around the world who have been helped by the Kind Cuts for Kids Foundation. In 2006 he wore a bag on his abdomen to collect his bowel motion.
The bowel was not the only problem; a kidney ultrasound and further x-rays showed him to also have significant kidney damage. His bowel abnormality, after the colostomy, was not life threatening, but his kidney problems were making him repeatedly sick and rapidly ruining his kidneys, resulting in life threatening infections.
Surgery by the visiting team saved his kidneys, and his life, and next year we will reconstruct his bowel, to allow him to pass bowel actions normally. The look of gratitude on the boy’s and mother’s face, and the look in the boy’s eyes in the early days after the surgery is a constant reminder of why we continue our work.
