Bethan Leatham
TrachKid Profile
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Bethan Leatham
Bethan was born at 29 weeks gestation on the 14/9/2001. She weighed only 770g (1lb 11oz) and has vacterl association. She had OA/TOF which was diagnosed soon after her birth. She has a vsd, which she is no longer on medication for as the doctors expect it to close of it’s own accord, she has a “floating” thumb on her right hand and an absent radius and no thumb on her left hand. She also has a hemivertabrae.
When Bethan was a week old she had a gastrostomy tube put in as she was too small to attempt surgery to repair her tof, she spent the next three months in the special care baby unit putting on weight so she could have her surgery which she eventually had on 17/12/2001. she recovered very well and we took her home on 11/01/02. she fed so well with a bottle and even started solids that her gastrostomy was removed. after a few weeks she started having problems with reflux and spent a few months in hospital trying to get over it. Unfortunately the reflux got so bad that on 10/6/2002 she had a fundoplication and her gastrostomy was replaced. She came back home in July 2002 on oxygen but spent the next two months in and out of hospital with chest infections. She had a broncoscopy at the end of September which showed that she had “floppy airways” but nothing that they thought she wouldn’t grow out of. She spent the next six months at home being very well but in January 03 she began once again to have what the doctors were calling asthma attacks. We thought she was getting over them when one day she got so bad that she ended up in itu on a ventilator.
The doctors decided that she could not cope with these attacks any longer and they could get her off the ventilator so it was decided that the best thing for her would be to give her a tracheostomy. Bethan had her trachy put in on 17/2/03 and has made a fabulous recovery. She is no longer on oxygen during the day and only half a litre when she’s asleep. We can’t believe the difference it’s made in the two short weeks that she’s had it. Hopefully this will be like a new start to her and she will be much better off with it.
Update, May 2003: Since Bethan has had her tracheostomy she has had a few short stays in hospital and spent the last two/three weeks at home quite well. But unfortunately on 17/5/03, Bethan died quite peacefully in her sleep. The last twenty months have been tough but I'll never forget how hard she fought to be with us and hope she is finally at peace.
Email
helengurner@btopenworld.com
History
- Blog
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- Member for
- 32 weeks 4 days
Location
- Country
- United Kingdom
