Say A Prayer On Her Behalf!
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Her pregnancy was a normal one. Ante-natal classes were all attended, as and when due. All necessary medical check-ups were duly done. Nine months later, Kayla* popped out...amid joy and celebrations. Cute little baby she is. During the routine check up every newborne has to undergo, the murmur was heard in her heart! Further enquiry one the part of a doctor who decided to go the extra mile, revealed this piece of devastating information: Baby K has a heart condition called Truncus Arteriosus!
In normal circulation, the pulmonary artery comes out of the right ventricle and the aorta comes out of the left ventricle, which are separate from each other. They carry oxygenated and non-oxygenated blood, respectively, to and from the heart and the two are not supposed to mix!
Truncus arteriosus is a rare type of congenital heart disease in which a single blood vessel (truncus arteriosus) comes out of the right and left ventricles, instead of the normal two (pulmonary artery and aorta). There is usually also a large hole between the two ventricles, Ventricular Septal Defect! As a result, the oxygenated and non-oxygenated blood mix, sending way too much blood to the lungs!!! If left untreated, the too much blood circulation in the lungs causes extra fluid build-up making it really difficullt to breathe! There is no known cause. Its not as a result of anything the mother should or shouldn't have done while pregnant!
Thats not all... This precious little girl also has a condition known as the Pierre Robin Sequence which is usually characterized by but not limited to a small recessed chin, resulting in the tongue being far back in the mouth and thus blocking her airways when she's lying on her back.....leading to cyanosis {the appearance of a blue or purple coloration of the skin due to the tissues near the skin surface being low on oxygen}. Because this condition could also cause food to go to the lungs instead of the stomach, she has been on gastro tube {G Tube}, inserted surgically, through which she feeds instead of the mouth! Again, no known cause!
She had an open-heart surgery exactly seven days after she was born in August 2010!!! And because her chin is small and the tongue falls backwards blocking her airways when she's lying on back, she had to go through another surgery Tracheotomy when she was 3 weeks old. Before both surgeries, she could only breathe through an artificial airway created by piercing her neck region! This is enough to break a mother's heart!!!
I am painting this graphic picture not because i want to aggravate an already heartbroken mother but because i NEED us to feel a minuscle of what this supermom is living through, with her head held high! Baby K was supposed to be suckling at her breasts, tucked lovingly in her mama's bossom but instead, she's feeding through a gastric tube!
{iDigress: When i had my son, i was discharged from the hospital the very next day! I thanked God for safe delivery. I however forgot to thank Him for the healthy baby He gave me! Took that for granted...afterall, after those hours i spent screaming my brains out in the labor room, i was entitled to a healthy baby, right???! So wrong...and God made sure i learnt that lesson with my little girl! For no apparent reason, the chic was just red. Not 'red' as in cute little newborne...naaah! 'Red' as in nearly tomato-red! The doctors kept tossing around the word 'Plethoric' back and forth. After a couple of days with the redness still not resolving, i became worried! Then, my blood sample was taken to determine my Rh factor.....my heart dropped!!!! I thought: Hemolytic Disease of the Newborne!!! *Folks in the medical field tend to come psychologically equipped with extra dollops of paranoia when it comes to disease conditions---I'm a licensed Pharmacist!* Long story short, those were the longest eight days of my life! I cried all through when no one was watching! I made all sorts of promises to God....i just always prayed for her to make it alive the next day, and the next, and the next!
Kayla* is scheduled for another surgery on the 16th of March. Kayla* and her unbelievably strong mother needs our support in prayers...everyone of us; every heart touched by this little one; every woman that has birthed a baby; every man that has fathered a child; anyone hoping for or expecting an offspring...everyone of us!!! A few minutes to tell God about Baby K and her impending surgery, and especially on the 16th, is all i ask. A few minutes to thank God in advance for surgery that would be a tremendious success!
To my dear friend, Kayla* will be a source of unbelievable joy and fulfillment to you!!! *Pause: Need to wipe my tears and get on with this post!* She will make you wanna pull out your hair and laugh at the same time just as her elder sister does now! She will exasperate you as they all do but she will also love you totally, unconitionally for all the sacrifices you made on her behalf! You will look back and thank God for this challenge He gave you both strength and grace, and the patience to live through...and overcome! He will so surprise you that you will change her first name to Miracle and her middle name to Testimony!! Just continue being strong, as you have always being! It already well with her....just believe!!!! JISIKE and thank you for allowing me share this with the rest of the world!
NB: Kayla is not her real name but it might well be because thats what i now call her! I used the name because of its meanings: A crown of laurels {Yiddish} or Who is like God? {Hebrew} and ironically, it is also my daughter's name!
NB: I did not include any pictures because they are a bit disturbing. At a later date, and with her momma's blessings, i might post the pictures of Kayla and everyone will see the difference our prayers made in her life!
NB: Serious issues not unlike this one, trivializes already trivial issues we always complain and whine about... everyday!! Dame P's murder of the english language comes to mind!
Thanx for reading! Much love...x
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3 comments:
I am not yet a mother but i can imagine how difficult this situation must be for the mother. I will pray for both u and ur baby. God is on the throne!
Thank you. I'm sure Kayla's mother would really appreciate the prayers.
Can we get an update in Kayla's condition?
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