Our beautiful daughter Jessica was born in September 2011 with a severe heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This was diagnosed at her 20 week scan and we were initially told that she was unlikely to be suitable for surgery. However, a pioneering in-utero operation at 28 weeks to enlarge a hole in her atrial septum was carried out and she was able to make it to term and get through her first open-heart surgery at just eight hours old. Jessica underwent five more surgeries during her life. Her final surgery - the Fontan procedure - took place in December 2017. She initially made a good recovery but sadly passed away suddenly on 14th April 2018 at the age of 6. This is the story of a little girl whose half a heart overflowed with love. She was, and will forever be, our little miracle and brought joy to all who knew her.

Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Seeing the new year in in hospital



After a lovely Christmas and a few days catching up with family (where Jessica enjoyed seeing Nanny, her aunties, uncles and lots of cousins not to mention opening a few more presents!) we were looking forward to seeing in our first New Year at home together but this wasn’t to be!  The three of us were all unwell in the run-up to New Year with a cold/flu-type bug and as Jessica was feverish and listless and wasn’t drinking very much, we took her into to our local hospital to be assessed at the children’s ward (where we have open access).


The doctor diagnosed a viral chest infection which they wanted to keep an eye on in case she develops bronchiolitis and so Jessica was admitted for observation. We also discovered she has a mild ear infection for which they are giving her some oral antibiotics.  Although her oxygen saturations were very good when we first came in (in the high 80s), by the time we got to bedtime they had dropped to 69 and so Jessica was given some oxygen overnight.  She objected very strongly to nasal prongs (ripping them off within seconds of them being taped on) and so we had to try and keep the oxygen mask aimed towards her face (not an easy task with a very fidgety little girl!).  Thankfully by morning her sats were starting to pick up again and she has managed to go most of the day without needing oxygen although her sats still drop when she is deeply asleep and so we are staying in hospital for now until this stabilises.  She has also been a bit wheezy and so has been given salbutamol via an inhaler which will be continued over the next few days, a process which she deeply objects to.



Otherwise though, she has been much happier today and has progressively been more like her usual self, wanting to stand up and play and trying to pull off all the wires.  She has recently starting playing Peek-a-boo where she hides under her blanket and appears (or just covers her eyes) which is very cute and this has helped keep her entertained a little!

  
Hopefully we will all be back home within a couple of days but hope you all have a very happy new year and best wishes for 2013.
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