Katalina Thang

Message from Katalina's Parents (Eulogy)

2009-01-22T01:20:00.000-08:00

We would like to thank everyone who was able to attend Katalina's memorial service and burial. It has meant so much for us to be able to celebrate and honor her life with so many of our family and friends.

Please feel welcome to post your comments/thoughts/prayers on Katalina's blog here by emailing to Linh Nguyen at comments@katalinathang.com.
Thank you.

Headstone completed on 2/4/2010
__________________________________________________________

Eulogy

Good Afternoon everyone, I would like to say “Thank you” for coming to celebrate Katalina’s life today. Katalina’s journey here on earth has come to an end but a new journey is waiting for her in heaven.

Katalina Jill Thang was born on January 5th, 2004 at 2:24 pm. She weighed 5 lbs, 6 oz, had 10 fingers, 10 toes, and a strong grip. She was absolutely perfect on the outside. But inside was a totally different story. The medical terms to describe her condition included:

Single Right Ventricle, non-working Left Ventricle, ASD, VSD, AV Canal Defect, Dextrocardia, Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return, Asplenia, and Pulmonary Stenosis.

All of these big words basically meant that she had severe congenital heart defects and other multiple defects that went along with it. Children with these conditions are not expected to live longer than a month.

Katalina had her first open-heart surgery at 2 weeks old. She had her 2nd open-heart surgery at 5 months old. She had her 3rd open-heart surgery at 7 months old. Then she was put on the heart and double-lung transplant list at age 9 months. We were told at the time that she may only have a few months left to live.

Almost 2 years to the date that she was listed, Katalina received an organ donation of a heart and double-lung. She finally had her transplant operation. But as a result of complications, both of her diaphragms were paralyzed and she was unable to breathe on her own. We had to make the very difficult decision for her to have a tracheostomy put in, so that a ventilator machine could breathe for her. We didn’t know if she would ever be able to breathe on her own again.

After spending 5 months in the ICU, she finally came home and miracle upon miracle, one of her diaphragms re-gained function. It was enough for her to breathe on her own again and the traech was removed. Then for the next two years after her transplant, she battled small and large infections requiring her to continuously be in and out of the hospital, until finally, the function of her lungs deteriorated so much that she could no longer over come it. At age 5, Katalina had suffered through more than most of us will ever know in a lifetime.

As a child who had endured the pain and trauma of endless surgeries, hospitalizations, procedures, lab draws, medications, treatments, and doctor’s visits since birth – after everything that she had been through and continued to go through, you might think that she would have been depressed, insecure, timid, or a lifeless little girl. But in fact, she was the complete opposite of that.

Katalina embraced life with so much vigor and energy and strength. She was the happiest, most well-adjusted, and most loved baby you would ever know. Away from the hospital and aside from her daily medications and treatments, nothing fazed her. She enjoyed every moment of every minute of her life.

She didn’t need anything grand to be happy. She loved going to stay with mama or grandma and her baby cousins during the day. Mama was tough on everyone, but Katalina knew that she was mama’s soft spot and could ask for anything. Her baby cousins, Aaron, Ethan, Evan, and Benjamin could always bring a smile to her eyes no matter how sick she was. And she was always the instigator, giving her je-je or big sister Emmy a hard time. She would bully her little cousin Amber just because she could. And she wanted to copy everything and be just like her older cousin April and big sister Emmy.

Katalina found the greatest enjoyment in life’s simplest form. Things like singing at the top of her lungs in the car along to her favorite songs; pretending with her sister that they were swimming in the Olympics in the bathtub; calling her Soy Ko-Ko or Auntie Cheng for a Starbucks coffee run; eating her favorite foods like her mommy’s spring rolls, mama’s egg rolls, or daddy’s fried rice; having large birthday parties like it might be her last one; playing in the neighborhood park on a sunny day; being pushed around on her little tricycle; digging in the sand and playing in the ocean at the beach; riding on the little fishy ride at Bonfante Gardens 10 times in a row; running around with all of the little and big kids at a birthday party; pretending to play poker with her daddy and his friends; swimming every summer at her favorite thei-thei or Uncle Michael’s swimming pool in the backyard; taking a long vacation to Las Vegas or Lake Tahoe with her cousins; playing in the garden with her other grandma and generally being spoiled by her; going out to eat at her favorite restaurant Pho Y; visiting the library to check out books and play on the computer; listening to a bed-time story and bargaining for more; baking cupcakes and cookies with her mommy; doing arts and crafts and painting with her sister; or fishing with her daddy. Everything she did was her favorite thing to do.

At age 5, Katalina had experienced a lifetime’s worth of love, joy, and happiness. Her strong will to live, charming smile, and wise eyes had a way of affecting everyone who knew her. She has been our inspiration, our love, and our gift and she will continue to be. Because of her, we are stronger, better people. She has taught us so much about love, life, and family. In her honor and memory, we will continue to live as she has by appreciating and enjoying all the little things in life.

Katalina – You will always be mommy and daddy’s little baby. You will never be alone. Mommy, daddy, and big sister will always, always be with you.

Pause to play a video clip of her singing “Beautiful”.

Then we play a song that we have dedicated to her “My Heart Will Go On” from the movie Titanic.

In closing, please cherish everyday, hours, minutes, seconds, and moments with your family and friends. Let them know how you feel. In the morning of January 10, 2009 at approximately 5 am in morning, Katalina was fully awake and she called out for me. She said “daddy, I love you”, then she turned to her mom who was still sleeping and called out “mommy, I love you”, just because. There was no particular reason for it. As you can see from her pictures and video clips, Katalina loved life and people.

Thank you so much for your care, support and prayers. We have been blessed by having you as our family and friends.

Kat by Jon Haight

2009-01-22T01:00:00.000-08:00

Kat

Today is certainly no ordinary day
As we remember to celebrate your birthday
Your life is such a precious gift
Each moment manages to inspire and lift

In the span of your short and miraculous life
You have shown us how to deal with so much strife
How to love and cherish each and every day
And not let disappointments get in the way

You have taught us to be more grateful, less irritable
To cherish what we have and be more charitable
And even when the day is full of pain and trials
You still manage to warm others with your smile

In all of this, we would be remiss
Not to mention one more person, let’s not miss
The one who loves you like no other
Of course, we speak of your dear mother

Who is moved to tears by the sound of your name
And would give up anything to lessen your pain
Her capacity to love you is without bounds
Her compassion and care for you forms a perfect round

So on this day we remember you Kat
And give thanks and gratitude for all that
As soon as this party’s over, let’s go see
About starting plans for birthday party number three.

Written by Jon Haight.
~ on her 2nd birthday

Memorial Services for Katalina Jill Thang

2009-01-13T01:17:00.000-08:00

As you may know by now, Katalina Thang passed on Sunday, January 11, 2009, after a long, wondrous journey here on earth with us. She is now free and in peace. Please keep her in your prayer and thoughts at this time, and just remember her beautiful eyes and smile. She has been our inspiration, our love, and our gift and she will continue to be. Because of her, we are stronger, better people. She has taught us so much about love, life, and family. In her honor and memory, we will continue to live as she has by appreciating and enjoying all the little things in life.

Below are the informations of her funeral services. Everyone who would like to attend are welcome.

Memorial Services for Katalina Jill Thang

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Darling & Fischer Garden Chapel

471 E. Santa Clara St.

San Jose, CA 95112

(408) 998-2226

Main Chapel

1:00 pm Open Viewing

2:00 pm Eulogy from Parents

Memorials from Family

Memorials from Friends - Open to everyone

3:30 pm Chinese Traditional Buddhist Chanting

5:00 pm Open Viewing

8:30 pm Services End

Monday, January 19, 2009:

Darling & Fischer Garden Chapel

8:30 am Final Viewing

9:30 am Departure for Burial at Oak Hill Memorial

Oak Hill Memorial Park

300 Curtner Avenue

San Jose, CA 95125

(408) 297-2447

10:15 am Burial at Sunshine Garden, Area “C”

Other Information:

Mailing Address (for cards, letters, packages etc.)

2550 Glen Dundee Way

San Jose, CA 95148

The services will be open to everyone to attend from 1 to 8:30 pm, including during the Chinese Traditional Buddhist Chanting. After the eulogy and memorials from family, friends will also be welcome to share a few memories or words.

Please help forward this information to anyone we may have missed on this list.

Thank you,

The Thang Family

Happy Birthday and Happy Holidays!

2009-01-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

Dear Thang Family,

We all wish you the best this holiday season. We hope you had a very merry Christmas and a really fun birthday bash!

- Your friends

Emmalyn birthday - December 29th
Katalina birthday - January 5th

2008 Bay To Breaker

2008-12-26T10:51:00.000-08:00

May 18 in San Francisco California

Happy Birthday to Katalina & Emmalyn!

2008-01-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

Emmalyn - December 29th
Katalina - January 5th

2007 Bay To Breaker with the Organ-R-Us Group walk

2007-06-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

5/20/07

She had her pictures with the Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom, The Insider & Entertainment Tonight TV shows with Victoria Recaño

(http://www.ingbaytobreakers.com/psa/psa.html), and KGO 810 interview with Joanie Greggains and Mike Shumann. They all adore her, especially Mayor Newsom! She is the little celebrity in City at the Bay To Breaker.

- Ming, Mary, Emmy, & Katalina Thang

A Happy Belated Birthday to Katalina & her older sister Emmalyn!

2007-02-23T13:27:00.000-08:00

Emmalyn (on left) turned 5 on December 29th,
and Katalina (on right) turned 3 on January 5th.

Update: Katalina is out of intensive care and is back home with her family. Her parents are hopeful and positive as they together continue Katalina's medical treatment.

We will continue to root for Katalina as she continues her journey to recovery. Happy birthday Emmalyn and Katalina!

Many Thanks from Katalina's Father - Ming Thang

2006-09-28T10:57:00.001-07:00

"Katalina is doing okay for now but we still have a long road ahead of us. It is a up and down situations and day by day. After she gets out of ICU, she still have to go for a lower care then Ronald McDonald house for at least 3 months. Thank goodness that we have a lot of support from family, friends, co-workers & bosses from IBM & NetApp, LPCH doctors & nurses, local doctors & nurses, and even people that we don't even know."

Ming, Katalina's father, would like to thank everyone for all their support.

San Jose Mercury News Update (video clip)

2006-09-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

(Click on picture to see video)

Katalina in the SJ Mercury News Columns:
Local News
Science & Health

Thank you San Jose Mercury News!

Toddler Gets Critical Surgery (click here for full story)

2006-09-05T23:14:00.000-07:00

Update from Dr. Shapiro

Thank you CBS 5!

Young Girl Receives Heart, Lung Transplant

2006-09-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

A young Bay Area girl becomes the first in the country to receive a double heart-lung transplant, after waiting nearly two years.

Cover Story
Back Story

Thank you ABC7 KGO News for keeping this story on the surface.

Katalina on ABC 7 News (Video has expired)

2006-09-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

Racing to Save Lives (click here to see news clip)

2006-07-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

Dr. Jeff Shapiro is racing against time.

"They told us there wasn't anything else they could do for her surgically," says Katalina's mother, Mary Thang. "The last resort was a heart and double lung transplant."

Thank you Dr. Shapiro for your valiant contribution and thank you CBS 5 News for bringing this story to the public!

The Relay (click here to see dedications to Katalina)

2006-05-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

Karnazes Completes 350-Mile Run (read story)

2005-10-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

October 18, 2005 On Wednesday, October 12, at 2 p.m., ultrarunner Dean Karnazes went for a run. At 10:44 p.m. on Saturday, October 15, 80 hours and 44 minutes later, he had covered 350 miles in a nonstop, sleepless loop through the San Francisco Bay Area.

Karnazes’ run is part of his fundraising effort to collect donations totaling $10,000 for two-year-old Katalina Thang, a little girl with a congenital heart defect who is awaiting a heart transplant at Stanford Children’s Hospital.

- from Outside.online

SJ Infant Needs Life-Saving Transplant

2004-09-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you KRON 4 News!