Disney Children's Hospital at Florida Hospital (see more articles like this)

Julissa Fuentes Rivas' condition continues to improve after her seven-hour bladder exstrophy surgery, which took place Wednesday, June 23 at Florida Hospital Orlando. Hospital officials say that the little girl is in serious, but stable condition.

Born with a rare birth defect where her bladder is on the outside of her body, Julissa has lived nine years with the condition, which impacts only one in 30,000 children. Typically repaired within 48 hours of birth in the U.S., doctors were amazed that Julissa has managed to live a fairly normal life with the defect.

Fortunately for Julissa, Florida Children’s Hospital, a non-profit medical mission organization called “Mountain of Hope,” Nemours Children’s Clinic, several renowned physicians and many others have come together to fly Julissa along with her mother to the United States to have the complicated surgery performed free of charge.

The extensive surgery required a team of specialists including two pediatric urologists, a pediatric surgeon, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and many other medical professionals. “Florida Children's Hospital is very pleased that we could be a part of this remarkable surgery," said Sandra Randolph, Florida Children's Hospital administrator.

The extensive surgery and medical services are being completely donated by numerous groups including Florida Hospital, Nemours Children’s Clinic, JLR Anesthesiology, Central Florida Pediatric Intensive Care Specialist and the Mountain of Hope Foundation.

Mountain of Hope is a non-profit corporation founded by team members of the annual medical-dental missions to Honduras sponsored by several local churches. Several employees of Florida Hospital DeLand participate in Mountain of Hope missions, whose purpose is to raise and manage funds needed to build and support a permanent medical-dental clinic in a rural village in Honduras. For more information visit: www.amoh.org.

Once Julissa recovers from surgery, she is expected to remain in the U.S. for several months undergoing extensive rehabilitation.

For more information on this story, please contact Florida Hospital Media Relations at (407) 303-1917. For updates on this story, please visit www.floridahospitalmedicalnews.com.

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