Meet Bas Mar Jan. She is a 5-year-old little girl who we saw in our TMC (troop medical clinic) at Camp Phoenix in April 2007. She suffered from Tetralogy of Fallot, which is a life-threatening heart condition where she had several things wrong with her heart. Her heart essentially pumped blood that was very low in oxygen. Her oxygen saturation was 73%

the day that we saw her. Healthy is around 99%. As you can see, her lips were blue. Her fingers and toes were dusky blue in color and were clubbed which showed the long standing oxygen deprived status her little body had been operating under.

Her father is a very caring individual and said that he carried her almost all the time because she had such difficulty breathing. The chest x-ray showed that the majority of her chest cavity was taken up with her enlarged heart. Operation Outreach worked diligently to make arrangements for her to have heart surgery in India in

order to save her life. In true Operation Outreach fashion, she didn’t leave the clinic until she had new socks, shoes, jacket, and stuffed animals.

Operation Outreach Kabul, Afghanistan Bas Mar Jan Edition

Through the very generous donations of Friends of Operation Outreach, stateside churches, assistance from babyheart.org, Pogs for Kids, and EVERYONE at Camp Phoenix, we were able to quickly fund and proceed with making arrangements for Bas Mar Jan to have her lifesaving heart surgery.

On 13 May 2007, Bas Mar Jan and her father came to the Camp Phoenix TMC for one last check up before flying to India.

She was cleared for surgery and Operation Outreach made sure that she had plenty of toys and crayons to keep her busy during her stay. Her surgery went very well. She did have some minor complications, so her stay was extended to ensure that she was doing well before she was discharged.

Bas Mar Jan was released from the hospital on 20 June 2007. 163 LTF was fortunate to be able to pick her and her dad up from the airport. They returned to Camp Phoenix for a quick check up before returning to her home in Jalalabad to be reunited with her brothers and sisters.

Her father said that she hadn’t been eating well while she was in India because she didn’t like the food. While at Camp Phoenix, Bas Mar Jan’s face lit up with a huge smile when she was given Afghan food for the first time in a month.

Care after surgery is a very important step to ensure that she has the best chance at a long healthy life. High quality medical care is hard to find in Afghanistan. Operation Outreach made sure that Bas Mar Jan was going to have the best care possible before even starting surgery. Volunteers networked to make arrangements with pediatric heart specialists at the private French Children’s Hospital located in downtown Kabul.

On 24 June 2007, Bas Mar Jan was able to meet Security Forces (SecFor) as she was taken to the French Children’s Hospital for her first post-operative visit. She was quite the celebrity and now has a very special (forces) fan club!

She had an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist and an ultrasound performed on her heart which came to a total of 170 Afghanis which equals $3.50 US dollars!

Operation Outreach funded her surgery, five week hospital stay, post-op care, as well as the plane tickets, hotel, and food for Bas Mar Jan, her father, and an interpreter. These expenses only totaled $7000 US dollars! However, money can’t buy the unbelievably healthy smile that Bas Mar Jan now shows off so easily for the camera.

Her father was constantly thanking everyone for giving him a healthy daughter. As he would place his hand across his heart in thanks, he kept saying

“I get to keep my daughter. She’s perfect…she’s just perfect.”

Bas Mar Jan….the future of Afghanistan. A special thanks to the commanders of Camp Phoenix for supporting these missions which are truly “winning the hearts and minds” of the future of Afghanistan. We would also like to thank the many anonymous supporters of Operation Outreach and hard working members who made these success stories possible. Operation Outreach is continuing to fund surgeries for children found with heart defects. For money donations, please go to www.babyheart.org and write in the comment box “for Operation Outreach children in Afghanistan” and your money will be designated for us and you can utilize their tax-exempt status. Thanks to LTC Kohler of Public Affairs for unlimited use of his pictures.

For donations including shoes, coats, and blankets, and school supplies, please send to: Operation Outreach C Co 163 LTF Camp Phoenix APO AE 09320 Written by Capt Gina M. Wellik, PA-C 27 June 2007