3/16/99 -Shao Shao continues to do so well. He,Liam and Tong Tong (our 3 heart kids!) all play together so very well. They are too cute! I will scan a photo of the 3 of them together and add it to the site soon. Shao Shao is slowly gaining weight and is quite a happy child. We are still waiting to see what the next step will be.

3/23/99 -We got Liam's cath and surgery dates today. Liam will have a heart cath on 4/14 and his final repair surgery on 6/2. Please keep him in your prayers. We are still waiting to see when Shao Shao's next surgery will be. It's great to have the Deng family to share my worries and concerns with!

3/27/99 -I got an e-mail from Shao Shao's PC, Dr. Alejos, saying that they conferenced Shao Shao's heart cath and they feel that "it's now time for his next surgery"! Boy, was this a surprise. I am not sure what "now" means. I should hear from him any day to clarify this. Now Liam and Shao Shao will both be having surgery soon. When it rains it pours! They want to fix Shao Shao's leaky tricuspid valve, cut away the foramen obstructing his aorta and do an atrial septectomy. It will be a very big surgery for both of our boys! Say prayers, please!

4/9/99 -We know have a surgery date for Shao Shao. His surgery will be on May 11th at UCLA. This is exactly 3 weeks before Liam's surgery. We are trying to brace ourselves for the stress of the next few months. We'll meet with Dr. Laks soon to discuss exactly what will be done during this surgery.

4/30/99 -Liam had his heart catheterization today and all went pretty well! We will give him a few days of rest then he'll get to play with his buddy Shao Shao again. They really love each other now and play very well together. It is so sweet to watch them together! We are all starting to get nervous about both boys surgeries!

5/8/99 - Liam turned 3 years old on the 6th but we had his party today! Everyone had such a good time - especially Shao Shao. He played so well with the other children. Liam was too adorable for words when we all sang happy birthday to him. I love my angel so much!!!

5/9/99 -Shao Shao is showing signs of a cold today! I guess he picked up something from one of the kids at the party! :-( We hope his recovery is quick as they want to do another heart cath before his next surgery on the 25th. They found some collateral vessels that they want to try to close with coils. It's much easier to address these during a cath than during surgery. I'll post when we get the date for Shao Shao's cath!

5/11/99 -Shao Shao's surgery has been postponed until May 25th. We did this for several reasons. One big one being that we don't have enough money for this surgery! So, it's back to the ol' fundraising and phone calls again! I have faith that this will all work out and that we will be able to get enough money together for Shao Shao to have his surgery at UCLA. We will meet with Dr. Laks on May 21st to discuss Shao Shao and Liam's surgeries. Since Shao Shao's surgery is just 8 days before Liam's, I have a feeling that they will be in the hospital at the same time for at least a few days. Please pray and send good thoughts to both our families!

5/18/99 -We will meet with Dr. Laks early tomorrow morning to discuss Shao Shao's surgery (rescheduled from 5/21). We will meet with him on 5/26 to discuss Liam's surgery. Shao Shao is still showing some signs of having a cold so we hope that this will totally clear up by next week. We now know that they will do a heart catheterization the day before Shao Shao's surgery, 5/24, to coil some collaterals that they saw in his last cath. He'll have all of his pre-op testing done the same day as the cath.

5/19/99 -We met with Dr. Laks and discussed Shao Shao's surgery this morning. It is a big surgery and considered pretty risky. It was hard hearing all of the possible complications, etc... He said that the surgery has a 6-8% risk factor. Shao Shao will be on bypass (heart/lung machine) for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Dr. Laks was concerned about some mosquito bites that Shao Shao has so they will have to be sure that he doesn't scratch them. If any of them open up then the surgery would be postponed. They will try to fix the leaky tricuspid valve and if that doesn't work then they will close the valve and then open up a hole between the atria. They will also remove an obstruction near his aorta. Shao Shao's cath will be on May 24th, the day before surgery.

5/24/99 -Shao Shao had his cath today and they coiled four collaterals. They actually found more than that but felt that the remaining collaterals would be okay after this next surgery. He had no problems with the anesthesia this time, thank goodness! Some officers from the LA Police came to visit him before the cath this morning and there were a few press people there. He did run some fever tonight so they decided to postpone the surgery. Dr. Laks isn't comfortable proceeding because of this. They will let us know the new surgery date.

5/26/99 -We met with Dr. Laks to discuss Liam's surgery. I am so scared but I have faith that Liam will do well. He will be on bypass for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, even longer than Shao Shao. This is a very stressful and scary time for all of us.

5/30/99 -Well, we still have no set date for Shao Shao. They will try to fit him into the schedule this next week. Liam's surgery is this Wednesday, June 2nd. Please, please pray for my little angel and pray for me to have strength to support Shao Shao's family if his surgery ends up being this week as well. There is talk of Shao Shao's surgery being on June 8th or 10th. Since we will be in the hospital with Liam, I don't know when I'll be able to update about Shao Shao or Liam but will do so as soon as I can. Thank you for your prayers and support!. "

To be continued. Diary Notes from Brenda Isaacs-Booth, CA, US. External Link

Love, Brenda"

"Liam was born on May 6, 1996 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz. and received an Apgar of 9 and 9. After 22 hours of labor, including 2 1/2 hours of pushing, he was delivered by Cesarean. He was a gorgeous baby! I cried when I first saw him. It was a moment that I had been waiting for my whole life! My husband, Bill, and I (Brenda) had only been married 4 months when we became pregnant with our little Liam. We were both ecstatic about the birth of our first child."

An e-mail from Brenda Isaacs-Booth, June 2 '99. External Link to her Liam Page