Chelsea
WOW - where do I start!!!!! Chelsea was born a "normal looking" child. We had no idea what complications we, as a family, were going to endure.
Looking back on the beginning of her life, it is evident that Chelsea had problems right from the start. I am a pro breastfeeding mom. For the first 2 days of life Chelsea breastfed like a champ. Then she stopped, refused to latch on and lost weight quickly. I started pumping and giving it to her in a bottle. She was able to do this since she did not need to suck hard.
After 5 weeks of life she did start breastfeeding again. BUT she started spitting up what looked like coffee grinds. By this time, my pediatrician had sent us to an ENT due to the hemangiomas all over her face. They concluded that she needed to be watched closely. When she started spitting up dried blood the concern got much greater. They thought her hemangiomas in her mouth might be breaking open. They introduced her to
steroid treatment. They asked if she had an trouble breathing and I told them that she snored as loud as my husband. They kinda just brushed it off.
At 8 weeks of life I took her to the pediatrician since something just did not add up. She ordered a
fluoroscopy. The conclusion was that she did not have a hemangioma in the airway (so they
initially thought), they said tracheal malasia. Two days later she went into respiratory
distress and required an airlift to the children's hospital. Once we arrived, I advised the ENT that she was just there two days ago and what the conclusion was. He reviewed the study and concluded that she did in fact have a hemangioma and she would probably need to be trached.
Chelsea was hooked to heliox for the night and was taken to the OR the next day. The result of the
bronch showed that she did in fact have a hemangioma in her airway which restricted her breathing. She was immediately trached.
I was horrified when I first saw her. I had no idea what a trach was let alone what it was going to do to our life.
It will be our one year anniversary from our emergency helicopter ride to the hospital in 2 days. She is scheduled to be bronched again on April 11th with the possibility of decannulation.
The few words of encouragement I would like to give as a parent of a trached child. Once you get over the fear it will come as a routine. My daughter has no other health issues other than the obvious. I treat her like I would any other child. To her, the trach is just as normal as her fingers and toes.
Email Chelsea's Mom Kathy: Kaykaypee@aol.com
