Tiia-Maria

Little angel Tiia-Maria Heikkinen from Finland.

I have got the honor to tell her story as a family friend. She was born as a very waited child to her mother Maria and father Timo and bigbrother Lasse, 12-years. Because of mother`s high blood pressure the birth of the baby started as medical in pregnancy week 37,1…. Tiia-Maria´s hight was 40 cm and weight 1,740 kg. Because she was that small she spended the first days in the intensive care department. At the first moment there was some difficulties with feeding of the baby. She looked like a normal sweet baby, but there was guite a big “heartmark” on her forehead. Actually she was really beautiful with her curly dark, thick hair. Mouth was normal, eyes were little bit projecting, lawer jaw small, but baby girls has got everything small. During the first week of staying in hospital the doctors suspect the diagnose of Bohring-Opitz syndrome. The tests has been taken soon and the answer from Netherlands came after 5 weeks, it was postive. BOS. What that really meanes was a mystery and still it is to my friends family and maybe to most of us, even for doctors. Tiia-Maria spended the first 4 months in hospital, waiting to get stronger to get her loving parents and sweet home. She came home 5.10 and 1.11 she went back to the hospital to have a surgery for putting the feeding tube to her stomach. Until that she has been feeded with the tube from nose to stomach. Daily feeding took after that 1,5 hours every 4 hours,the last 15 minutes was painful for her, because of the air and reflux. She had a high fever 25.12 and they went to hospital and all tests has been taken, they came back to home. The next day 26.12 she still had the fever over 41 degrees and they called an ambulance because Tiia went blue and white from her lips. During the way to main hospital they could not save her, she flew away. We do not exactly still know, what was the finally reason ,we are still waiting the answer. But about Finland`s health care I have to tell that it´s one of the best in the world. Health care is for free, we are lucky with family Heikkinen to live near the capital Helsinki, we have the lowest childhood death in the world. Tiia had good care, they found undeveloped optic nerve and some thickening on a left heart vertical,”glue ear”, which each waited operating on january, that never came.Sometimes the ways of God are unknown. We pray, that anyone else could get something about Tiia-Maria`s story. Thank you for reading this and sorry if my english is not perfect.

Minna Alatalo