Abby
TrachKid Profile
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Abby was born healthy on March 15, 2008. She had a slight heart murmur, but it has gone away. When she was 7.5 months old, she came down with Meningitis. All of her medical conditions stem from the Meningitis.
Our story began on Halloween night 2008. We took her out and my parents took her for the nightbecause her father and I were invited to a Halloween Party. The next day, when we picked up Abby, my Dad told me that she might come down with a fever or a sore throat because my 12 year old brother woke up that morning with one. No big deal, or so we thought. The next day we took Abby to get her Christmas pictures done at a studio. She was basically fine, a little fussy, but nothing big. On Monday morning, she had a fever, this was now Nov.3rd. I gave her some tylenol and had my MIL watch her. She couldn't go to daycare with a fever. She was fine, still herself, playing and whatnot. Tuesday, Nov.4th, she still had the fever, but she was acting very lazy. When I came home from work on Tuesday night, Abby's fever was at 101. Dave and I took her to the ER. They took blood and urine samples from her to do cultures on them. We wouldn't get the results back until the next day or so. They sent us home, mind you the triage nurse told us wrong directions. The next morning, Abby was very sleepy and whined when you moved her or picked her up. She was like a rag doll. So I dropped her off at MIL's house again and went to school (college classes). While I was at school for 2 hours, Abby threw up twice and a third time when I picked her up. So MIL and I took her back to the ER, again, they sent us home because they couldn't do much and the blood cultures hadn't come back yet. As soon as I got home from dropping MIL off, the hospital called me and told me to bring her in ASAP because she had bacteria in her blood. That is where our real battle with Meningitis began.
Witin hours, she went from bad to worse. She needed to be flown to another hospital to be in an ICU, this hospital didn't have one that would help her out. She was flown to Hershey Medical Center in Hershey Pa. When we finally arrived after 2 1/5 hours driving, she was in such bad condition. She was hooked up to any kind of machine out there to keep a person alive. We were at the hospital for 36 days. It was the longest 36 days of our lives. While there, Abby needed her trach placed because her vocal cords were paralyzed. She needed a shunt because she developed Hydrocephalus. She needed a G-tube placed becuse she couldn't eat on her own anymore. She had two blood transfusions, numerous Xrays, MRIs and CT Scans.
We came home on December 11th, 2008. We really wanted her home for her first Christmas.Since there wasn't any reason to keep her at the Hospital, the Doctors let us take her home. It was very tough for us at Christmas, because Abby has a few cousins that are her same age. It was espically tough on me to see them doing things and Abby was just laying there. I cried alot when we first came home because I was so upset about everything. It was very overwelming to have her home. Since she was born healthy and then one day having all these medical issues, it was too much to bear.
Abby started John Heinz Rehab in January, she also started Early Intervention at the same time. When she first got to John Heinz, she was at the level of a newborn. Throughout the months, Abby's progress shot through the roof. She progressed so quickly, everyone that knows her is just amazed. Her Doctors cannot believe that she has come so far in such a short time.
We truely have a miracle child in our arms. I give thanks to all the Doctors and Nurses that took care of her. I'm so glad that Abby is apart of the Children's Miracle Network. Without CMN, the hospital wouldn't have all the equipment they needed to help her out.
We first tried Decannulation in April of 2009. It didn't work. We took Abby to the Doctors in July 2009, and they gave us a plan of action to cap her and to see how she did with that. By our next appointment in the Fall, it would be known whether or not she could get her trach out. On November 3rd, the ENT Doctor told us she looked good and scheduled the decannulation for November 17th, 2009. We brought her to the hospital and she was decannulated on November 17, 2009. She had her trach in for exactly 360 days.
Abby has been making alot of progress, but the best thing of all is that, this Christmas, she is going to be able to enjoy it and also play with her cousins. Somthing she wasn't able to do last Christmas. We are also excited for her 2nd birthday because she was not able to eat cake for her first party. We cannot wait to see her devour her mini-cake this coming birthday!
History
- Blog
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- Member for
- 2 years 11 weeks
Location
- Country
- United States
- State/Province
- Pennsylvania
