Galina’s Journey
August 8th, 2009
Galina has safely returned to Ukraine to begin a new life with a new look! We won’t ever be able to express the impact she had on all the lives she touched during her time here in The US. She is an amazing child who loves life and the people she encounters can’t help but be changed by her joy! We are hoping to have her back for a visit and possibly more corrective surgeries someday again!
We will miss your smile, Galina!
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July 23rd, 2009
***GALINA’S SURGERY UPDATE***
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Galina’s surgery was a great success! She had her eye operated on first by Dr. Earl Crouch Jr. She will have to wear a patch and glasses but Dr. Crouch beleives she will have wonderful results due to the surgery. The eye surgery took about an hour in all.
Next Dr. Hoerr and his team took over and in about 3.5 hours they were able to reconstruct almost all of her scalp and give her a new look. We should be able to see the new Galina soon. She is still in bangages and quite tired. She is such a strong girl! She isn’t even taking anything for pain other than over the counter pain pills!
Here is a link to a local news story that ran about Galina
*****We know she would love to receive some well wishes…you can send them to the address below. (please remember that everyone she knows is half way around the world!)*****
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If you would like to send her cards you can mail them to:
Galina
C/O Frontier Horizon
PO Box 4429
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
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Galina Has Arrived!!!
Here is the beginning of the story:
Some of you may have read the story of “My Lost Sheep” by Vinny” and now you have probably just watched the video…Well, here is the follow-up!We are very happy to tell you that Galina and her adoptive Mother, Tanya, arrived safely in Virginia Beach on Thursday, April 30th.
She was greeted by Frontier Horizon Staff and Friends. She spent her first days in the states meeting the people she will be staying with, going for pizza,and visiting the beach. She also had the pleasure of some dolphin watching and began English Lessons!
She also had consultations with the doctors that will begin her process of healing from the scarring she suffered as a result of the burns she received as a small child.
We are sure at times she must be pretty overwhelmed at all of this! We are all so excited to have Galina a part of the Frontier Horizon Family. Please join with us in welcoming her.
If you would like to send your well wishes to Galina and/or Tanya please feel free to do so by using our hostblog We will be pleased to translate and pass along every message you send to them.
Her first surgery will take place on Thursday, May 7th, to insert tissue expanders.
Please to watch this page for continuing updates!
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On May 7th Galina was admitted to
Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, VA and had 2 tissue expanders inserted into her scalp in order to “grow” new tissue for use in repairing the damage caused by her burns. She will be staying there overnight and hopefully be discharged on May 8th. Sometime the following week they will begin the slow process of filling the expanders.
Getting ready…
in the recovery room…
Dr. George Hoerr, he is the wonderful doctor that is helping our beautiful girl!
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The surgery went great. Galina had some post surgery swelling and was a little uncomfortable but that is to be expected. She had her second English lesson and is doing wonderfully! She is picking English up already. What a great kid she is! So full of joy. Everyone that encounters her is falling in love with her! She is going back to the doctors on May 12th for a follow-up exam. At this point they will determine when they will start to slowly fill the expanders with saline.
Hanging out with “Timber” one of our staff member’s pets. Is there any better therapy?
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End of May update…Galina has had a few appointments with Dr. Hoerr and he has started the long process of filling the tissue expanders with saline. She experiences some pain during the procedure but is such a brave girl! She quickly gets over it and is ready to get back to experiencing her new life and the fun times she is having here in America. Some of the things she has been doing include going to pick strawberries (which she can’t get enough of!)… She and Tonya went with Olya, one of the wonderful volunteer translators, to the Strawberry Festival in Pungo Virginia…Going Shopping (what girl doesn’t love that?)..and good old American style bar-b-ques.
During one long weekend Dr. Rosini and some friends took Galina and Tonya to the Blue Ridge Mountains for a relaxing weekend. They were able to hike and enjoy some of the true beauty of our wonderful State of Virginia.
and,of course, there have been more trips to the beach and much more meeting of new friends.
Galina never seems to stop amazing us with her kind heart and gentle spirit.She continues to teach us lessons in tolerance and love each day that we get to know her better and better.
Thank you, Galina for letting us in on your beautiful world!
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Update!!!
Galina will be having her surgery on July 22nd. She has been having saline injections twice a week for several weeks now and Dr. Hoerr feels that she has sufficient skin growth to complete the procedure. If you would like to send her well wishes you can do so on our host family blog by clicking on this —>link<—
She has been so very brave through all of the appointments. It has not been an easy process for her. There has been a lot of pain. After each procedure she is in pain for several hours, but in true Galina form she bounces right back and show us all that sparkling smile that has made us realize what a trus gift she is in each of our lives!
In the mean time and between appointments she has had a lot of adventures. She has been on trips to, among other places, Denver, CO, Washington DC (for 4th of July), Busch Gardens, and many many trips to the beach to chase the ghost crabs (her favorite activity!!!)…oh..and did I mention, she LOVES dogs…here are a few pictures of her and her four-legged friends:
If you would like to make a donation to help with the cost of Galina’s stay here in America please click here.
Make a notation on the donation site that you would like your donation to go toward Galina’s Journey.
We appreciate any help you would like to offer.
Keep checking in for updates!!!
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For those of you wondering why there are no pictures of Galina’s medical progress, she is very modest and has decided not to allow us to take pictures of her medical procedures.
Thank you for your understanding.