Help Cristian see

We wish to inform you again about Cristian.


For some time we’ve returned from Germany, finally home.
It was difficult to return home because there were significant differences in temperature between Karlsruhe and Bucharest (there were up to 27 degrees Celsius while in Bucharest were 40-42 degrees Celsius).
Cristian didn’t adjusted very quickly; he was not eating too much, vomiting at each meal, and also didn’t accepted very well the milk.
The results of the interventions in Germany have started to show about two weeks ago when Cristian started eating pretty well, not vomiting at every meal, and began to eat milk also (2 days before surgery of esophageal atresia he refused the milk or pacifier and also after the surgery).
Now Cristian eat about 80-100 grams of puree and 90-120 ml of milk through mouth and not vomiting, through his stomach tube he receives only drugs and vitamins. I started doing physical therapy and rehabilitation because of the long periods of time that Cristian spent in hospitals. And the progress are starting to show up, but you have to do physical therapy a long period of time (doctors told us that is possible to go to the gym four years and the costs are not exactly negligible).
For eyes we have contacted doctors at the clinic in Detroit, and asked them to make an appointment for surgery.
We have received a quickly response from them as follows:

- Surgery appointment in September
- Monday, September 10 at 10:20 AM should be the first consultation
- Probably surgery Friday, September 14 and Wednesday, September 19, 2012


Unfortunately we have to ask for a postponement of the appointment because we could not raise money needed for the surgery.



UPDATE 16.05.2012

We want to inform you about Christian’s health progress.

A couple of weeks ago we went with our baby at an neurological consult. The doctors have made a new tomography and they were pleased to see improvements. They said that the brain start to drain itself and the surgical procedure is not necessary now. But the progress of the brain must be monitored.

Last week we have completed the process for obtaining the E 112 form. This means that we have the documents and the necessary financial resource to go to Germany and make the surgery for the esophageal atresia. The treatment will take place at the Department of Pediatric Surgery, Municipal Hospital of Karlsruhe/Germany. The date of arrival will be on Saturday, May 26th to check inflectional status over the weekend. Following two further days of examination the operation will take place on Friday, June 1th. The duration of stay is calculated for 4 postoperative weeks for intensive care, control of esophageal passage, control of wound healing and swallowing training.

We also received an assessment from Dr. Capone (William Beaumont Hospital, Detroit, USA). He reviewed all the medical documents that we send and said that the surgery on both eyes for retinopathy can be done. But we still need to raise the necessary amount of money. We raise around $8.000 from $30.000-$35.000 that are needed.

We are very optimistic that everything will be fine. 

We will keep you informed as we have more progress.

Thank you very much!

Oprea Florin, Cristian’s father

Name: Oprea Cristian Stefan

Date of birth: 25/12/2011

Weight on birth: 1720 grams

Birth place: Bucharest, Romania

Most serious diagnosis:

1.   Esophageal atresia

2.   Neurological issues

Hydrocephalus tetraventricular(brain flooded),identified by Romanian doctors on 29/01/2012

3.   Ophthalmological issues

Stage 4A retinopathy of prematurity OD zone II posterior temporal retinal detachment OS posterior zone II

He already had a laser surgery on the right eye (the retynopathy evolution has been stopped, but still the baby can't see with the right eye), but not on the left eye because the surgery is too complex to be performed in Romania. So, for the left eye we went to Budapest with hope that something can be done there, but unfortunately the Hungarian doctors gave us a negative answer as well. From similar cases we found out that  it possible to perform this kind of surgery in Detroit, U.S.A

We hope that we will find people with big hearts who can help us give our baby the chance to have a normal life.  To achieve this, we opened these accounts for donations:

Account RON: RO71BTRL04401201K10492XX

Account USD: RO95BTRL04402201K10492XX

Account EUR: RO46BTRL04404201K10492XX

Transilvania Bank, branch Obor, Bucharest

For more details and clarifications please contact us at:

Phone: +40 721.803.302

E-mail: florinoprea74@gmail.com

Florin Oprea

Thank you from the heart!

The full story

Oprea Christian Stefan was born earlier than he should, on 25/12/2011(Christmas Day), with a weight of 1720 grams.

It all started at 2:30 AM, when contractions started. We went to the Malaxa hospital (we just left that hospital a day ago), and from here they sent us to Polizu maternity because they were not equipped for a child with birth defects (esophageal atresia, which we have found on 22.12.2011). The Polizu hospital did not received us because the Malaxa hospital did not announced our arrival. So, we’ve been sent to Giulesti maternity again unannounced, but fortunately we were welcomed there.

Cristian was born at 8:03 am, he was emergency transferred after a few hours to Grigore Alexandrescu child Hospital, and there he underwent surgery after a couple of hours. We were told at around 9:30 PM that the operation is over but that anything can happen in the next 7-10 days. In those days we sat by the door of intensive care and waited for a miracle (every day that passed was one day won for Cristian).

In the 8th day I was informed that our baby had a complication in the lungs, he made pneumonia, and was intubated again for another 2 weeks. On 29.01.2012 we got another blow, after a neurological consult the doctors found that our baby suffers from hydrocephalus tetraventricular (brain flooded).

We were discharged from hospital on 17.02.2012 and recommended a neurological and ophthalmological consultation. The ophthalmological diagnosis was another blow stage 4A retinopathy of prematurity OD zone II posterior temporal retinal detachment OS posterior zone II. We go to Polizu hospital for performing laser photo coagulation. The doctor performs a first surgery to the right eye, but not on the left eye because the surgery is too complex to be performed in Romania. So, for the left eye we left to Budapest in the hope that something can be done, but unfortunately the Hungarian doctors gave us a negative answer as well.

Even with the surgery performed on the right eye the only hope is that the baby will see very badly, he will only be able to see some light and distinguish forms without features or even go blind. So, the only place that we found out that it possible to perform this kind of surgery is in Detroit, U.S.A. but the cost for one eye surgery is around $15.000, and he needs surgery on both eyes.

For the head surgery we will go at the end of this week with hopes to the M.S. Curie hospital, otherwise the head will increase very much and he will not be able to sustain it, it will also put pressure on the brain that will not develop which also seems to be quite affected by this complication.

For the intervention of esophageal atresia we will try to solve with form E 112, the intervention can be achieved in Germany much earlier than in Romania. Right now he is fed through a machine that pushes milk directly into the stomach through a tube. He eliminates the saliva through the esophagus and a hole in the neck on the right side so it will not to go into his lungs.

Please find below some medical documents.