Anna
9 years old * Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia * blind * autism spectrum * likes to play with caregivers and other children * a family needs to step forward for her orphanage to do adoption paperwork
Anna lived at Bethel Foster Home (a large family type foster home for visually impaired children) as she fought leukemia, but her orphanage has taken her back. She is currently in remission.
December 2017 UPDATE! Anna is in great need of a family!!
The orphanage will not do her adoption paperwork until a family comes forward.
Anna is back at her orphanage. Originally Bethel had hired a local caregiver to be with her. Just this month her caregiver stopped working and the local orphanage has insisted that they will take care of her with the other children. As far as we know she is still receiving check ups to ensure she continues in remission and she is doing well (the last update we have of her is from 3 weeks ago, she seems skinny but doing well)
These are photos from this month (December 2017) Doesn’t she need a mama?
November 2015 Video! Playing ball
August 22, 2107 Update: Anna is back at her orphanage. She is not doing chemo, but she is still on medication and doing blood tests regularly as her levels drop sometimes and she is more prone to infections. She has her own room at the orphanage. She still can’t be with that many kids. We hired one nanny and the orphanage provides another nanny one day a week so she can have that day off.”
Here is Anna with her Nanny (hired by Bethel) – photo taken August 2017
December 2016 update
“Anna will be done with treatment probably within the next 1/2 a year or so. The doctors are very optimistic and we are very excited! The doctors said she needs probably two more regular rounds of chemo (I believe they are 21 days each) and in between she needs to take meds orally and do blood and platelets transfusions and that’s it! I am not sure how far apart the 2 rounds will be, I guess it depends on the oral meds and how well she tolerates everything.
HIC (Hawaii International Child) has said they are willing to push for a file if a family commits, and I know several people who would gladly help a family fundraise.
She has done really well with her own caregiver. She had lost some self help skills while she was too weak but now that she is doing better she is picking it up again quickly (potty, eating by herself). She and her caregiver are close and she is tolerating the hospital and all the people there so much better too!”
September 2016 Update:
“Anna has done 10 rounds of chemotherapy so far. A couple of days ago, she developed an infection that put her in the ER. She is now stable and the doctors think once she recovers she can resume treatment and still have a good prognosis. Her doctor is truly wonderful and thinks she will need 1.5 more years of chemo but that the odds are still good.”
“Anna is at a wonderful foster home for visually impaired children called Bethel. She has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). She is not paper ready yet but a family could start working on paperwork while the orphanage prepares hers. She is also blind and is on the autism spectrum (she has low language skills but plays well with caregivers and one on one with other kids). So far she has been tolerating chemo quite well.” – Bethel
Here is an updated photo of Anna from June 2016. She is going through treatments and desperately needs a family to help her through this! And she still has a smile on her face. What an angel.
Update April 12, 2016
“She has just finished her first cycle of chemo and will start the second one in a few days. We’ll know more about how she is doing after she finishes her second cycle in a month”
From a Facebook post in February 2016:
“Anna needs your urgent prayers!
This sweet girl in our care was just diagnosed with leukemia. She has been in and out of the hospital this weekend for treatment and is a very sick little girl. Anna has two caregivers staying with her round the clock.
The team in China has already raised some funds for her treatment, but it will likely cost a lot more. If you’d like to donate, visit our donation page and write “Anna‘s Medical Fund” in the memo section.”
“Anna was born in February 2008. She has bilateral congenital microphthalmia, which makes her completely blind. She came to Bethel in November. She has been slowly adapting to the life at Bethel and she is now in our Panda Class at the primary school.” – Bethel
“Anna is a pretty girl. She likes to sit on the hard seats, which makes her feel safe, according to her teachers. Her favorite activities include going for a walk, listening to music and playing the piano.
Anna has physical therapy and speech therapy, which greatly helped her gain strength and improve her speech, respectively. She is also learning how to use a cane. We are all very pleased with every little step of her progress at Bethel, and we are going to keep encouraging and helping her grow.” – Bethel
If you would like to know more about how to adopt Anna, please send me an e-mail.