Annie Freeda Cruez
New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: It was so typical of Tee Hui Yi. The moment the 14-year-old caught sight of the press through the window of the Intensive Care Unit, she grabbed her small white board, scribbled a message and held it up.
“Thank U for everything and everybody concern and well wishes.”

As the media people filed into the ICU, she held up the board for them, wiping a tear from her eye.

Hui Yi, who captured the hearts of Malaysians with her bravery as she waited for more than a year for a heart transplant, was taken off the ventilator yesterday at 10am. And her doctors at the National Heart Institute are very satisfied with her progress.

IJN heart and lung transplant clinical director Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib said Hui Yi was very excited when the ventilator was removed. She wanted to speak but her throat was too sore from the tube.
“She likes to talk and eat,” he laughed, adding that even the medical team found it hard to believe that she made it.

“We are emotional about it too, to see that the tubes are out and she can talk. It’s very difficult to explain how we feel. We came very close to losing her.”

As for her parents, he added, there were no words to describe how happy they were to be able to talk to her, feed her and hold her hands.

“It’s a miracle,” said Dr Ezani.

After just more than a year on a mechanical heart, Hui Yi had a first transplant in the early hours of Thursday. But her body began to reject the heart from a 15-year-old who died in a traffic accident in Ipoh on Wednesday.

By some miracle, another heart became available and she had a second transplant on Friday morning. She received the heart of a 20-year-old traffic victim from Johor.

Also on Wednesday, a 39-year-old Sarawakian named Lang Kong received the 15-year-old boy’s lungs in a double transplant.

Dr Ezani said he was doing very well and had walked out of the ICU cubicles to do his exercises yesterday.

IJN transplant co-ordinator Noor Salina Othman said they now had four patients waiting for heart transplants and heart-lung transplants. Institute of Respiratory Medicine respiratory physician Dr Ashaari Yunus said they had nine patients waiting for double lung transplants.

Anyone who wishes to be an organ donor, or donate the organs of a brain-dead relative, can contact the National Organ Transplant Co-ordinating Centre at 03-26942705/704, 03-26156576, or the toll free line at 1-800-88-9080

Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 (Bernama) — Heart girl Tee Hui Yi, recuperating from a double heart transplant, was taken off the respiratory tube today as she is able to breathe on her own.

National Heart Institute Heart and Lung Transplant Unit Clinical Director Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib said Tee was breathing well.

“Tee was breathing very well throughout last night with minimal support of the ventilator. At about 9.30am today, our anaesthetists, Datuk Dr Mohamed Hassan Mohd Ariff and Dr Syarifah Suraya, decided to take her off the ventilator.

“We did a trial period during which she was basically breathing on her own but there was still a tube in her nostril, this lasted for about half-an-hour.

“When we were happy she was able to breathe on her own, we took out the tube at about 10am. Since then she has been breathing well.

The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Heart transplant patient Tee Hui Yi cannot speak well with a tube in her mouth so she communicates by writing on a whiteboard.

“Sometimes she tries to remove the tube but we stop her. So she writes on a whiteboard. She tells us that she is in pain,” said her mother Dina Bato Sam Bua at the National Heart Institute (IJN) yesterday.

MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, who visited the 14-year-old girl, handed a Thank You card and a copy of his open letter of gratitude published in The Star yesterday to the 34-member IJN team that carried out Hui Yi’s double heart transplant.

He commended the team, led by chief cardiothoracic surgeon Datuk Dr Mohd Azahari Yakub, for their commitment and excellence.

Together with his wife Datin Seri Wendy Ong, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and wife Datin Seri Wong Sek Hin, and Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn and his wife Datin Seri Tan Lay Hwa, they visited Hui Yi at the intensive care unit.

Ong encouraged her to be strong and told her that Malaysians were praying for her recovery.

He later presented a fruit hamper and a teddy bear to Hui Yi’s parents.

“Do not worry,” he assured Dina Bato and her husband Tee Ah Soon. “The IJN team is very professional. They are giving their best to your daughter.

“The people are very concerned. We are praying for her,” he said.

IJN’s Heart Lung Transplant Programme director Mohamed Ezani Md Taib told pressmen that Hui Yi would be taken off the respiratory machine today.

He said Hui Yi, who now weighs 33kg, would be in intensive care for two weeks to avoid infection but doctors would not want her be in there longer than necessary.

Last Thursday, Hui Yi underwent surgery to implant a heart from a 15-year-old boy in Sitiawan who was declared brain dead following a road mishap. Soon after, Hui Yi’s body began to reject the organ.

On Friday, a second heart was brought in from Johor Baru, donated by the parents of a 20-year-old mechanic who was also killed in a road accident.

The IJN surgical team scrambled into action again and performed a second heart transplant on Hui Yi.

Marina Mahathir

Hi folks, here’s something to start your day and even week off on a great note. It certainly has mine.

Mum sent me this photo this morning via sms (thank God for technology!). Dad had just had breakfast and was happily contemplating his move up to Bunga Raya a bit later.

I dashed to IJN and found a whole press scrum downstairs. It seems that someone had told them that Dad would be discharged today. Not quite true! But for the moment, the move up to the 5th floor is good enough for us.

Here’s me and Dad up at Bunga Raya. Doesn’t he look good? Had lunch of spaghetti marinara, salad, fruit and pudding after that.Things are looking up!

Talking of good news, Mum visited Hui Yi this morning. She’s awake, looking good and even holding two thumbs up in triumph. Her parents are by her side and beside themselves with joy. And the Sarawakian lung recipient is also up on his bed and doing good.

The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Tee Hui Yi is stable and stronger now and her condition is better than a day earlier.

Heart Transplant co-ordinator Noorsalina Othman said Hui Yi was more alert now and was being fed through a tube.

“She has also moved her arms and legs.

“She can talk but without any sound because there is a tube inserted in her mouth,” said Noorsalina on behalf of Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib, the heart and lung transplant unit clinical director at the National Heart Institute yesterday.

Hui Yi was still in critical condition and would be warded in the Intensive Care Unit for a few more days, she said.

Aside from doctors and nurses looking after Hui Yi, no visitors were allowed except for her parents Dina Bato Asam Bua and Tee Ah Soon who could look in for a few minutes, twice a day.

On Oct 4, 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, she got the heart of a 20-year-old mechanic who was declared brain dead after a road accident in Johor Baru.