In last month’s issue of Jewish Times Asia we reported on Anna who lives at the Tikva Children’s Home in Odessa. She was taken to Israel’s Schneider Children’s Hospital to receive a liver transplant from her brother.

We are happy to report that Anna is recovering well and has left the hospital and is taking medicine to prevent the rejection of her new liver. This medication is known to cause mood swings, so her caregivers are dealing with this imbalance and are attempting to find the right combination of drugs.

Anna is living in an apartment with her sister, also a former Tikva student. Tikva is providing and arranging for her proper nutrition and medical care.

Unfortunately, on 29 June Anna was taken to the Emergency Care Unit after her blood tests showed a significant rise in enzymes. The hospital got the problem under control and a few days later she was out of the hospital.

Doctors are keeping a close watch on her progress. The Director of Transplant Team and Aftercare at Schneider ’s Children Hospital, Dr Riki Shapiro, has agreed to visit Odessa in order to teach them the necessary care when dealing with a transplant patient.

_{(Issue July/August 2010)}