By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

It seemed like they'd never get the travel visas. Then there was a mix-up with the airline tickets. There was a constant stream of crises, from a surprise "fiscal tax" at the airport to fees for required medical clearances, flight delays, on and on. They thought finding a surgeon and raising the money was going to be the hard part, but as it turned out, every little thing was a struggle.

During the most frustrating times, Ray and Dorothy Smith of Kailua would turn to each other and ask, "Why are we doing this?"

But the answer was always the same, and it kept them going: "To save a life."

Dorothy Smith made her first trip to Bali, Indonesia, in 1989. During that visit, she made friends with a tour driver, Nyoman Sapta Adijaya, who treated her kindly and took her everywhere. Over the years, the Smiths made numerous trips to Bali. Each time, they'd see their friend Nyoman and spend time with his family.

Nyoman Sapta Adijaya and his son Made are flanked by Ray and Dorothy Smith of Kailua. The Smiths rallied donations from the public so the boy from Bali could receive critical surgery on his heart. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The level of medical care needed to correct Made's heart condition, known as tetralogy of fallot, isn't available in Bali. Even if it were, Made's family could never afford it. Nyoman says doctors told him, "Just wait and pray, because we can't do anything."

Dorothy Smith simply wouldn't accept that for a child she thinks of as family.

She started making calls, writing letters, asking questions.

She found the Loma Linda International Heart Institute in California, which has a program called "Open Hearts for Children." The program provides corrective heart surgery for children from developing countries. Made's case fit perfectly, except for one snag: money. The program's funding had been used up saving the lives of two children from Bangladesh.

So the next step for the Smiths was to raise money for the hospital fund. The minimum amount the hospital needed to proceed with surgery was $12,000.

The story of the Smith's quest to save the life of the 8-year-old child from Bali ran in The Advertiser in February. A total of 157 people sent donations to the Loma Linda Open Hearts for Children program. The financial goal was met, even exceeded by a little bit, but what was most amazing to the Smiths and to the staff at Loma Linda were the letters people from Hawai'i sent along with their donations:

• "My first and only grandson was born with a heart defect which required heart surgery at age 2 months old. Today he's a healthy 20-month-old boy. ... Our hearts and prayers go out to Made and his family."
• "It's not very much, but I'm on a fixed income."
• "Although my husband and I are unemployed at present, we have been blessed by God and we wish to share his blessings. We pray for the good health of little Made."
• "I would like the world to have a thousand more like the Smiths. If we did, the world's children would be better off, and so would the rest of us."

After the money had been raised came the string of difficulties to get Nyoman and Made to California. The four finally got there the third week of April. Made went in for surgery on April 16. His surgeon was Dr. Leonard Bailey, famous for the 1984 transplant of a baboon heart into an infant known as "Baby Fae."

Though all the things leading up to Made's surgery were complicated, everything in the operating room went beautifully. Made was put on a heart-lung machine for the open-heart surgery. A Dacron patch was used to fix a large hole between the two lower ventricles of his heart, and his pulmonary valve, which was almost closed shut, was opened. His sternum had to be sliced open and later wired shut. Amazingly, he was released from the hospital 24 hours later with only liquid Tylenol for pain.

Dorothy kept a journal during the California trip. Her entry on a follow-up visit to Dr. Bailey on April 21 reads:

Will always have a slight murmur. Patch between ventricles — good. No problem with murmur. Rest of life take antibiotics before dental work. He is fixed for life!! No more problems. No roughhousing — don't want to break down incision or get infection. We've gotten our miracle!!

"The doctor told us that without the surgery, Made wouldn't make it to 21," says Ray. "Now, he says Made will live to be an old man."

On the way back to Bali, Nyoman and Made visited a few days at the Smith's Kailua home. Made went to the Honolulu Zoo and walked everywhere.

"They took a walk around our neighborhood, two miles on the loop, and Made asked his father, 'Why is my back wet?' " said Dorothy. "He never had the energy before to work up a sweat!"

In the month since surgery, Made has gained 6 pounds and is thriving.

"I've never seen him like that," says his father. "He's getting fat now. Strong legs."

Father and son returned to Bali last week. Made is eager to go to school because now he can keep up with the other kids. "We feel like we did what we started out to do, and that is to have a well boy," says Ray.

When they tell this story, there's a lot they leave out. They don't talk about the thousands of dollars of their own money they spent on the effort, expenses they can't write off on their taxes. They don't talk about Dorothy's health problems, the six hip operations that keep her in a wheelchair or on crutches and on pain medication twice a day for life. They don't talk much about all the times they despaired thinking it wasn't going to work. They just say that everything turned out better than they could have hoped.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.