Abigail MacMillan
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Hi, This is my beautiful daughter Abigail. She was born on February 3, 2001.
She had a forceps and vacuum delivery, and the cord was around her neck. Not a very nice way to enter the world. She was born at 8:05 a.m. and by two p.m. she was at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, where she stayed for 4 months. At 5 weeks of age she was diagnosed with Central Congenital Hypoventilation Syndrome. A sleeping disorder, she needs a ventilator to breathe for her when she sleeps. Other than that, she is extremely healthy and developmentally on track.
At 7 weeks she went for her trach surgery and went into cardiac arrest, but she came through. Her surgery was then performed at 9 weeks of age, she began nursing at 9 1/2 weeks.
Abby is an amazing little person, she has been through so much and never complains, we have learned a lot from her, and still continue to do so. She is two now and goes to Gymboree, music and gymnastic classes. Having a trach has not slowed her down in the least.
A special thank you to all the great staff in the Neo Nat ICU, and the respiratory therapists, who offered us so much support.
Update, November 2007
Abigail is now 6 1/2 years old. She has just started gr.1 and is having a great time at school. She is an active little girl, who enjoys skiing, skating, tennis and soccer. Her trach and vent have still not slowed her down.
We are hoping in the near future that we can transition her to a nasal mask with the use of a bi-pap machine so that she can be decannulated.
We also went on to have another little girl, who we are happy to say is a nose breather. Olivia is 3 1/2 years old and has given us so much joy and healing over the past few years. Abby and Olivia are the best of friends.
Many more thanks to the staff at CHEO, they have been a constant source of support to us.
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