Hui Yi the miracle girl - heart transplant

KUALA LUMPUR: Tee Hui Yi is indeed a miracle girl. The teenager, who is making steady progress after a second heart transplant on Friday, had no luck with six potential donors in the past nine months.

Yet, in a space of 24 hours, she had two suitable donors. The first failed and the doctors are now “cautiously optimistic” about the second heart transplant.

Since January this year, there had been six possible donors. On June 15, the heart of a donor was rejected for being incompatible. The following month, the heart of a man who weighed more than 100kg was rejected. Days later, there was another heart available but the donor was too young, just five. On July 31, the heart of an accident victim was offered to Hui Yi but unfortunately, the organ was found to be damaged.

The fifth chance for Hui Yi came in September but the donor was suffering from hypertension and diabetes. Then just into Ramadan, a private hospital in Alor Star offered her the organ but that donor was found to be a hepatitis carrier. On Thursday, finally, her luck turned. Hui Yi received a heart from a 15-year-old boy diagnosed to be brain dead but soon after the operation her body started rejecting it.

The next day, Hui Yi got the heart of a 20-year-old mechanic who was declared brain dead after a road accident in Johor. National Heart Institute heart and lung transplant unit clinical director Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib said Hui Yi was making good progress after her second transplant. He said she was responding to calls, was moving and obeying commands through signals. “When the doctors asked her which areas she felt pain, she was able to point and was able to move her feet and hands.

“This is good progress and doctors are cautiously happy. We hope for the best in the days to come,” he told a press conference yesterday. Despite her stable condition, Dr Mohamed Ezani said Hui Yi was still in critical condition and not out of danger yet.

He said an echocardiogram was conducted yesterday morning and the test showed the heart was functioning normally. The doctor said she had no breathing problems but was put on a ventilator as a precaution. He added that her wounds were cleaned yesterday at the operating theatre, explaining that it was safer to do it there rather than the Intensive Care Unit.

“She had to be given doses of immunosuppressant and the intra-aortic balloon pump that had been inserted into the vessel was removed in the morning,” he said, adding that Hui Yi’s progress would be closely monitored over the next 72 hours.

He said if everything went well, she would be moved to the normal ward in about five days and fed through a tube. Once she is moved to the ward, he said doctors would continue to conduct biopsies with a tube placed in her heart to check for any infection.

Source: The Star

Non-Malay - Wushu: Siti scores a first

KUALA LUMPUR: Sanshou (freestyle boxing) exponent Siti Zaishbila created history for Terengganu when she won the state's first-ever gold in the national wushu championships at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium in Cheras yesterday.
Terengganu did not even have an association until early this year and in their debut in the national championships made their present felt in sanshou with a haul of 1-2-4. In the 11 finals contested, Siti was the easiest winner. She was handed the gold in the 65kg category without having to fight in the final because Kuala Lumpur's Chong Yin Yin came down with cramps and conceded a walkover.
But for Siti, who won two bouts on Monday to advance to the final, it was still a well-deserved gold medal. She had quit her job to prepare for the national championships.

“I'm happy to deliver a gold medal for Terengganu. I did not expect this because this was my first competition in sanshou,” said the 23-year-old former taekwondo exponent who had represented Malaysia in the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) world championships in North Korea in 2000.

Terengganu sanshou coach Wee Teck Jien said that he was delighted that one of his exponents managed to emerge as the champion. "It was not easy for the Malay exponents who were fasting throughout the competition days,” he said.

“I am happy for Siti who quit her job as a supervisor in a supermarket two months ago to train intensively with me. “The exponents with me have a background in taekwondo. But in sanshou, we have only started training intensively for the last two months. I'm delighted that seven of our eight exponents in sanshou managed to win medals.” Teck Jien, who has his training base in Kemaman, added that the standard of his exponents were relatively low compared those from Kuala Lumpur and Perak. “They are just beginners. Given time, we will be challenging the other states strongly,” he said. The Terengganu Wushu and Lion Dance Association were set up this year to enable the state to field a team for the wushu competitions in Sukma (Malaysia Games), which they will host next year. But sanshou will not be in the Sukma programme.

source: The Star