Alissa Cailin Gonzalez
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Alissa's Story
On March 29, 2001, I gave birth to a beautiful little girl Alissa Cailin Gonzalez. Because I had a hard time with delivery she was delivered with the help of the vacuum. Immediately the NICU team was already there because she had swallowed her own waste. To make sure she didn't get an infection she was being suctioned. While being suctioned the nurses noticed the catheter was coiling. Upon their discovery she was ambulanced to the closest Children's Hospital (Orange County, CA). Her diagnosis was confirmed; she had Esophageal Artresia (EA) and Tracheoesophageal Fistula (TEF). Her repair was done with a breeze on March 30, 2001. The surgeon was very hopeful, but told us this is just the beginning and she may encounter more problems. Hopeful that she would be o.k. the doctor was right she did.
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After she was taken off the breathing tubes she developed stridor (really bad). A few days later the ENT came in to see her and wanted a deeper look into her trachea and bronchial area. They prepared us for the outcome; Alissa needing a trach. On April 10, 2001 Alissa went in the O.R. and came out with a trach and a g-tube. Dr. Ahuja (ENT) said that she had tracheomalacia and a tracheotomy was her best option. It was a bitter sweet moment to see my little girl with a tube down her neck, but a relief to see her resting in peace and not gasping for every single bit of air. Alissa also has a laryngeal cleft and a paralyzed vocal cord (the left one). Finally exactly five weeks later I got to bring my baby home with a bit of extra equipment (but it's o.k. she was home with me now).
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Since Alissa has come home from the hospital she has had countless bronchs and 3 dilations of the esophagus. Has only had pneumonia once, been hospitalized a few times for trach infections and once for swallowing a penny (it got stuck in her esophagus). After disappointing news after each bronch scope these past years, in September of 2004 we finally heard some good news. Alissa is ready to get her trach out, but not till the Spring of 2005. She will need reconstruction on the trachea and still may need to repair the laryngeal cleft (won't know until she goes in for surgery) and her vocal cord is still paralyzed (some movement but not very much).
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Now that 2005 has begun I'm hoping great results for my daughter and I look forward to life after the trach. Although I will probably miss the days with her having the trach, it won't be one of those things I would want to do over again.
