“You are still young. You can try again.”

Those words from her doctor did not bring Careen Ong comfort. Instead they provoked great determination within her.

“I was not going to give up so easily with a life inside me,” said the real estate agent as she recounted the medical consultations she had during her first pregnancy.

Careen, 33, and her husband, Mark Chan, 32, an insurance agent, are the parents of Kagen, who is six years old.

Looking at the healthy and active young boy, it is hard to imagine that he was born with a congenital heart condition and underwent open-heart surgery as a baby.

But when Kagen was in her womb, more than one doctor alluded to aborting him and trying for another baby. 

Not a believer at that time, Careen did not want to give up on her child. She was desperate for peace amid this medical storm.

The fight to keep her baby

When he was around 20 weeks in the womb, Kagen was found to have Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV).

It is a rare and complex congenital heart defect where the aorta connects to the heart in the wrong place.

Studies show that 1 in every 10,000 babies is affected.

Complications from DORV may include heart failure, high blood pressure in the lungs, which, if left untreated, can lead to permanent lung damage and death.

The overall prognosis for babies with DORV is also poor, and the condition is linked with certain abnormalities.

Careen recalled that the first growth scan of Kagen took a long time.

“Because it was our first time, we didn’t think much about it,” she told Salt&Light. “But the doctor gave us a very weird look after the scan and told us to wait outside.”

The first time parents were puzzled and did not know what to make of it, until a nurse reappeared with some documents.

They were sent to another department for detailed foetal heart scans, then referred to a government hospital for specialised prenatal care.

“All the doctors we talked to kept saying ‘actually, you all are still very young’,” said Careen.

To her, those words hinted at an abortion, which needed to be done before the foetus was 24 weeks.

By then, Careen had four weeks to decide. But she was determined to keep the baby.

Careen was determined to continue her first pregnancy despite discouragement from doctors.

She admitted: “I was very affected by what they said.”

Not wanting to give up, Careen went to the polyclinic to get a referral to another hospital. 

The medical team at the second hospital was more encouraging but, given the scan results, advised her to do an amniocentesis to check for Down syndrome.

The team also informed the couple that open-heart surgery would be necessary once the baby reached a healthy weight after birth.

It was a very difficult decision to make, but Careen was bent on keeping the baby.

Somehow, she was confident that he would be well. To her relief, the results for Down Syndrome came back negative.

Going through such stressful decision-making with no idea of how her child would turn out, Careen began to seek peace and hope from various religions.

New age practices did not give her peace. Neither did the medium from a traditional religion.

“Consulting the medium was scary and intimidating. We just didn’t feel comfortable,” she said, adding that she and Mark were traumatised and fearful following the rituals.

They stopped going back to the medium.

Open heart surgery on a four-month-old

The following months of Careen’s pregnancy were smooth sailing, without special care for mother or baby nor meticulous birth plans.

She went into labour when Kagen reached full term and his delivery was smooth.

“I held him for a split second,” Careen recalled. Right after that, nurses rushed Kagen to NICU to maintain his oxygen levels and to check his vital signs. He spent the next five days there.

Open heart surgery was planned for when Kagen turned eight months old. Careen brought him for monthly medical check-ups to monitor his well-being.

“I really hated the check-ups,” she said. Kagen would be heavily sedated and would sleep for hours after. When he finally woke up, he would be lost.

When Kagen was four months old, the doctors found that his oxygen levels were unstable. His heart surgery had to be carried out earlier than planned.

“We were in denial,” said Careen, adding that she and Mark did not want to face the situation or the possibility that something bad that could happen.

Although the benefits of surgery outweighed its risks, there was still the possibility of complications, including bleeding, infection and risk to Kagen’s life.

To make themselves feel better, they planned a staycation before the surgery.

Their anxiety was not misplaced. Kagen’s surgery took around seven hours. As his heart was too swollen for his chest to be closed up, it had to be left open.

The four-month-old was put on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), an artificial life support system that oxygenates blood and removes carbon dioxide, continuously circulating it back into his body.

70 days in hospital

As Kagen was mostly sedated, there was nothing much else Careen and Mark could do.

To distract themselves from worrying about their son, husband and wife kept busy with work and continued telling themselves and each other that everything was going to be all right.

But her brave front crumbled whenever Careen was alone in the car.

“Every time I went for a work appointment, I would cry,” she said, remembering how she needed to find a way to release her emotions.

It was not all smooth-sailing. Complications subsequently arose from Kagen’s slow-healing wound: He contracted an infection at the surgical site. 

Another surgery was required.

Kagen spent 70 days in NICU following open-heart surgery and post-surgery complications.

They had expected their baby to be in the NICU for 14 days but it turned out to be 70 days in both NICU and the high dependency ward.

It was a very troubling time for the young mother. “I was very desperate. I needed to find hope,” she said.

“Friends and colleagues around me kept talking about Jesus Christ and one of them taught me how to pray for Kagen.”

Though she was unfamiliar with Christianity, Careen obediently put her hands on Kagen and prayed as her friend taught her, beginning with “Dear heavenly Father” and ending with “In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

She found it strange but did it anyway when she was alone with Kagen.

From anti-Christian to new believer

One day, deeply troubled, Careen remembered her work partner telling her that if she ever felt she wanted to go to a church, she could just walk in.

She searched online for churches closest to the hospital where Kagen was warded in. New Creation Church emerged.

On Sunday, 5 May 2019, Careen decided to visit the church. As she was getting ready for church, Mark became curious and asked her where she was going. 

“I was anti-Christian and didn’t dare to tell him,” she admitted.

Finally, after much pestering from her husband, Careen told him the truth. He was shocked but decided to accompany her.

She could not remember what happened during the service, only feeling peace and love.

“I felt very peaceful going to church and then going to the hospital. I didn’t have any fear. All I felt was love.”

That peaceful experience made her want to continue attending church.

At one of the services, she said the salvation prayer, not knowing what it meant.

The couple were drawn to Christianity in search of peace and hope.

“We didn’t dare tell anyone we were going to church,” said Careen, sharing that she had had unpleasant encounters with Christians when she was in primary school.

“All my friends know that I don’t like Christians,” she added.

Mark was a believer in his youth but when he was courting Careen, he left the faith because she was against Christianity.

God’s plan for the couple had taken them full circle. “I was the one who brought him back to church,” she mused.

“I ‘self-discharged’ him”

Kagen was eventually discharged after more than two months in hospital. He had to be on antibiotics for an indefinite period.

Uncomfortable with this ambiguity, Careen stopped bringing Kagen back for his regular check-ups.

“I ‘self-discharged’ him,” she admitted. For a case as complicated as Kagen’s, this would not have been advised by medical professionals.

But for a host of reasons, chief of which was keeping her son on prolonged antibiotics, she made the radical decision to stop his follow-ups.

Instead, Careen did what she knew to give Kagen a healthy start. 

In her own understanding of the benefits of mothers’ milk, she was convicted to breastfeed Kagen fully until he was two and a half years old.

Happy, healthy and full of faith: Kagen, 6, with his sister, Kasey, 3.

Babies with heart conditions typically grow slower but year by year, Kagen was growing up just like a regular healthy child.

“He was active like a normal child, running around,” Careen noted.

Leaning on 2 Corinthians 5:7 –“For we live by faith, not by sight” – gave Careen faith and confidence, and most importantly, the peace from the Lord that all would be well with Kagen.

Healed by the Lord

In September 2023, just before a family holiday to the United States, Careen decided to bring Kagen for a scan to check how his heart was doing.

“I don’t know why,” she said. “Suddenly I had this thought to just bring him for a scan.” 

The doctor was understandably upset that for four years, Kagen had not gone for his regular check-ups. Still, he ordered a complete scan for him.

To Careen’s amazement and relief, the check-up was uneventful. The scan was clear and the doctor found nothing abnormal.

She ordered hard copies all of Kagen’s medical reports as she wanted them for record and testimony. 

When mother and son had reached home, the doctor called to ask if other procedures had been done on Kagen. Careen replied that there were none.

The doctor was amazed.

“I think he couldn’t believe what he saw,” said Careen. “He said no other procedure was required at the moment because everything looked good.”

God had healed Kagen above and beyond what Careen expected. 

The doctor’s words “were like a confirmation from God that my son was healed,” Careen told Salt&Light. “I was super happy.”

Careen and Mark with Kagen and Kasey, on holiday in the United States last year.

One of the main lessons Careen learnt from Kagen’s medical episodes has been that God has made her children resilient.

“You have to trust that the kid is strong. At every step, he is really stronger than we think he is.

“His faith is stronger than ours. He attends a church kindergarten where he learns simple prayers.

“He is a good reminder to us that we need to have childlike faith,” she said.

Let go and let God

Now, the Chans make family devotion part of their schedule. They worship together as a family regularly, with Careen on keyboard and Mark on guitar.

“We spend time worshiping and try to include songs that the kids enjoy, singing them loudly as a family,” she described.

“Our goal is to demonstrate the importance of worshiping God together.

“We also read Bible stories to the children,” she added. “Often, God speaks to us through these stories as well.”

The couple is intentional about helping their children grow in their faith journey. 

“I encourage them to pray. For instance, if Kagen wants something and I decide not to buy it, I encourage him to pray for it.

“Often he ends up receiving it from someone else!

“I’m grateful to see God answering his simple prayers.” 

Careen finds that becoming a believer has begun a transformation in her.

“My approach to life has become much more relaxed since I found Christ,” she said.

“I used to be very rigid and meticulous with planning. But now, I often leave things in God’s hands, embracing the idea of ‘let go and let God’.

“I’ve realised that on my own, I can’t do much and I often become frustrated.

“However, when I let God take control, things often work out for the better.” 

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