Gia's Story
Miracles Do Happen.
I was only home from the hospital from being born just a few days when my parents noticed I wasn't acting right. Feeding was hard and I wasn't interested. I wasn't engaged either and I was very very tired. You may be thinking to yourself this could normal....I'm a newborn, right?
We visited the pediatrician a few times and even the emergency room. With some of the very same thoughts from doctors - just newborn ways. Less than 48 hours after being discharged from the emergency room, my body just couldn't handle it anymore. I just felt too sick. I was starting to have trouble breathing and lost all color. An ambulance drove us straight to the hospital. We arrived but by this point my body was too weak and my heart stopped pumping. I had to be revived and intubated to help get me better.
Doctors initially didn't know what was making me so sick but once the results came back they realized I had contracted the Enterovirus (common cold) that turned septic. My body started to shut down as a result of the infection and cause damage to my heart, lungs, kidneys and liver. Due to the seriousness of my illness, I was transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital on an ECMO alert (a cardiac and respiratory life support). The PICU would become home for me and my family for the foreseeable future and I would become the Unit's child.
From the moment I arrived, all hands were on deck. Every doctor, nurse, and specialist provided me the best care and treatment possible. During the time I was in the PICU, my body fought every obstacle thrown my way. I endured a lot! I was on an oscillator to help me breath, a dialysis machine to help my kidneys start functioning again, I suffered two small brain bleeds, caught E.coli from prolonged intubation, went to traditional ventilation to being put back on an oscillator, had daily x-rays, underwent a cardiac catherization, had a CT scan and went through a MRI. I went through each of these hurdles all while trying to recover from my cold and while being on paralytics and heavy doses of sedation/opioids. I tried my best each day but also gave my parents, nurses, and doctors some scary moments. At one point the doctors thought my recovery would be nothing short of a miracle. Well, miracles do happen!
Each day the goal was to make a little progress -- small wins! By mid September I started getting stronger and slowly I was able to start weaning off medications and was extubated. On October 11th, after 3 months in the hospital, I was finally discharged!
I'm thankful for every doctor, physician assistant, nurse, respiratory therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, nutritionist, pharmacist, and resident that cared for me. They are my heroes!
Love,
Gia Liv
