3-year-old Cambodian boy's surgery a success at Children's Hospital LA

Bunlak Song grips the bed rail at Children's Hospital Los Angeles after receiving a sedative before heart surgery on October 7, 2011. Hearts Without Boundaries founder Peter Chhun and Bunlak's sister, Bukkek, look on during a brief delay, caused by another emergency, before surgery began. (Jeff Gritchen / Long Beach Press-Telegram)

Bunkek Song and Peter Chhun thank surgeon Dr. Cynthia Harrington after she reported that little Bunlak Song's surgery went well at Children's Hospital Los Angeles on October 7, 2011. Bunlek was brought to the United States from Cambodia by Hearts Without Boundaries for surgery that he could not get in his homeland. Chhun is the founder of Hearts Without Boundaries. (eff Gritchen / Long Beach Press-Telegram)

Dr. Cynthia Harrington starts open-heart surgery on Bunlak Song at Children's Hospital Los Angeles on October 7, 2011. (Jeff Gritchen / Long Beach Press-Telegram)

Doctors, Long Beach charity team to get tot's heart fixed.

10/07/2011
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram

LOS ANGELES — It took 214 days of setbacks and drama before Bunlak Song received the heart surgery Friday that will extend his life. So maybe it was only fitting that the operation was delayed one last time for a couple of hours.

As Bunlak squirmed around in his "tired little tiger" pajamas after being given a sedative, a nurse from the operating room said an emergency had forced the delay.

"Oh, well, two hours is nothing after this long," said Peter Chhun, who is sponsoring the boy.

"We've been waiting four years and finally the day is here," said Bunlak's sister, Bunkek Song.

Thankfully it was the last of the delays, and 214 days and a couple hours after arriving in the United States, the 3-year-old Cambodian orphan emerged from surgery and began on the road to recovery.

As surgeon Cynthia Herrington delivered the news that Bunlak was safely out of surgery, Bunkek finally let out the emotion she had been holding within.

A large smile spread across her face as she pressed her palms together and thanked the doctor.

"She said her whole body feels light now," Chhun said, translating from Bunkek's Khmer. "It's like a big rock is off her chest."

Almost immediately after receiving the news, Bunkek called her family in Cambodia, where it was 3:30 a.m.

Chhun said Bunkek told him the family sounded exhausted and her younger brother, Bunlong, wept upon hearing the news.

Bunkek herself had awakened early Friday morning at about 4:30 to light incense, pray and make offerings before her brother's surgery.

When Bunlak was wheeled into surgery, she smiled but also blinked rapidly, then stared down the hall where her brother had been taken.

A happy page

As she awaited word on the results of the surgery, the toil of the day became apparent and Bunkek slumped over a small pager supplied by the hospital to let her know when her brother was out of surgery.

Bunlak suffered from a congenital birth defect know as a ventricular septal defect, or hole, in his heart. Although the defect was diagnosed early in Bunlak's life, the family that adopted him at birth lacked access to surgery in their homeland.

Although the defect is a common ailment typically fixed in the first year of life in the United States. Bunlak's case was complicated because it was a large hole and his lungs were damaged from the lack of care for more than three years.

"Everything looks good," Herrington said. "The VSD is completely closed and the heart function looks great."

She added that the most important step now is to manage the hypertension in the boy's lungs.

'Two centimeters? Wow!'

As the surgical team of 10 prepared for the operation, one looked at the echocardiogram image of the boy's heart.

"That's a big VSD," he said. "How large did they say it was?"

"Two centimeters," came the answer.

"Two centimeters? Wow," replied another team member.

Then the team got down to the business of saving the boy. The only sound in the operating room was that of an electric saw slicing through the boy's sternum, followed by an acrid burning smell.

Two hours later, Bunlak faced a new life with a healthy heart.

The journey that finally landed Bunlak at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and into the care of Herrington has been variously maddening, frustrating and miraculous.

Chhun, founder of Hearts Without Boundaries, brought the ailing boy to the United States before securing a commitment for the surgery.

Chhun, who studied to be a Buddhist monk in his homeland, just trusted in karma to deliver the child.

Bunlak is the fourth child the fledgling Long Beach nonprofit has brought to the U.S. for lifesaving heart surgeries. Three are back in Cambodia living healthy lives, where once they faced the bleak prospect of lingering death sentences.

Almost as soon as Bunlak arrived in the U.S., it seemed Chhun's faith had been answered when Miller Children's Hospital agreed to take on Bunlak's case.

However, after checking the boy's condition more closely, the Long Beach hospital backed out because of the high risk and projected long recovery time.

Months passed as Chhun negotiated with an intentional group of surgeons that performs operations in developing countries. That solution was problematic, because of the recovery time.

It was then that karma came to the aid of Bunlak and Chhun in the person of Dr. Shaun Grady. The obstetrician met Chhun by chance at a fund-raiser and was immediately drawn to Bunlak and his story. The Pasadena doctor not only organized another fund-raiser for the boy, but negotiated with Children's L.A. surgeons to forgo their fees and got a special rate for the hospital stay. He also agreed to cover any costs above the money raised for the boy.

It remains to see how long Bunlak's recovery will take, although Herrington expects Bunlak to be in the hospital for a week to 10 days and require a couple of followup visits before he can return to his homeland.

As Bunkek reclined in a waiting room chair, she gazed at the ceiling and reflected on the long road to her brother's surgery.

"Four years," she murmured as a smile returned to her lips, "four years."

Greg Mellen 562-499-1291 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              562-499-1291      end_of_the_skype_highlighting greg.mellen@presstelegram.com

Read about Hearts Without Boundaries online at http://heartswithoutboundaries.org/