A Second Chance : In Belarus, Baby Was Expected to Die; U.S. Doctors, Others Offer Services to Save Her

SANTA ANA — Elen Kuchuk stood beside her 3-month-old daughter in the neonatal intensive care unit, gently caressing the infant’s tiny fingers.

Kuchuk, 23, a resident of Belarus, once part of the Soviet Union, is hoping for a chance at life for her daughter, Xenia, who suffers from a rare intestinal condition. She says it’s a miracle that her daughter is being treated in America.

Kuchuk, her daughter and Xenia’s physician arrived in Orange County on Saturday after traveling 36 hours to get the baby the medical care she needs to save her life.

Back home in the city of Minsk, the 10-pound, 2-ounce baby had no chance of survival, said her physician, Dr. Vadim Ten, a pediatric anesthesiologist and chief of the neonatal group at Minsk Surgical Children’s Center.

“No doubt the baby would have died,” Ten said, explaining that he turned to the doctors at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana for help.

Xenia’s treatment is being made possible by a team of doctors who are donating their services, including the costs for surgery. The hospital is also waiving costs for her treatment.

A number of others have donated services or provided discounts to the family, including Lufthansa German Airlines, which flew mother, daughter and doctor to the United States; Schaefer Ambulance Service, which transported the baby from Los Angeles International Airport to the hospital, and Mead Johnson Corp., which makes the special nutritional formula Xenia needs.

“It’s amazing that everybody is willing to donate,” said Dr. Richard H. Meidell, director of the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit who is leading the team of doctors. “Everyone said, ‘Absolutely. We’ll do what it takes.’ ”

Kelly Curtis, a hospital spokeswoman, said the value of the donated medical services is about $100,000. She added that the costs could change, depending on the care the baby actually ends up receiving.

“I just hope she’ll have a good outcome and that we can help her,” said Kathy Smith, a neonatal intensive care nurse who is among the hospital staff attending to Xenia.

Kuchuk, whose husband, Oleg, works in a tractor factory, also has a 4-year-old son. Ten said the mother is overwhelmed and astonished by the whirlwind visit to this country--her first trip abroad--as well as by the outpouring of generosity and concern for her daughter.

“She told me (it felt like) she fell down from the moon to the Earth,” Ten said. He added that he is thankful “that a country like this exists in the world.”

With Ten interpreting, Kuchuk said she is hoping that “everything will be OK” with her baby. Kuchuk is staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Orange, and Ten has been invited to stay at the home of a Huntington Beach family.

Meidell first learned about the baby’s life-threatening condition from Jenny Saavedra, 34, of Huntington Beach, a Western Medical Center employee who was in Russia performing humanitarian work at Ten’s hospital.

Saavedra contacted Meidell via fax and told him that the Russian doctors wanted advice on how to treat the baby. Meidell didn’t hesitate.

Later, it was decided that bringing the baby here for treatment would increase her chances of survival, Meidell said.

“The baby’s a baby--it doesn’t matter where she’s from,” Meidell said of the decision to bring her here. “It’s only one world, and we have to start thinking that way.”

The baby suffers from a form of Hirschprung’s disease, which generally affects small portions of the colon and can result in bowel obstruction. In the United States, Meidell said, one in 5,000 babies is affected with the disease.

Meidell said he sees two or three children a year with the intestinal condition.

In the case of Xenia, both her small and large intestines are affected, Meidell said. “This is the worst case I’ve ever seen. This is rare,” he said.

Xenia, a happy and smiling baby, is being kept alive through intravenous feeding, Meidell said. She has already undergone three surgeries in her own country and nearly died last month from an infection, he said.

“It is important that we determine what parts of the intestine work normally and which ones don’t,” Meidell said. “We will try to save as many of the parts that do work and create an intestinal tract so she can absorb enough food so she can eat, grow and thrive.”

He said the worst case is if “we can’t do anything for her.” But he said he is optimistic after tests Monday showed that portions of her bowel are working normally.

“I really feel we can do something for her,” he said.

Meidell said the baby is in good condition and is tentatively scheduled to have surgery today.

Saavedra, who is in Germany recuperating from a heart condition and will come home Thursday, said in a telephone interview that she is elated the baby is getting treatment here.

“I can’t tell you how I feel,” she said. “There is hope. Miracles do happen. Her life is 100% better now than (facing) a 100% risk of death. We have a special gift this Christmas season--that’s the gift of life.”