“I get asked quite often from people that don’t know Drew, “Oh poor baby, is she sick?” My response, “No, she’s fine, healthy as a button”, which then I see a perplexed look and I suddenly remember she has oxygen tubes taped to her cheeks.
So for you who don’t know Drew, she was born with a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). The Doctors gave us a 50/50 chance of survival. She spent 122 days in Intensive Care at the Mater in Brisbane before she was well enough to come home, and even then those first few months having her home were stressful to say the least. She was admitted to kids’ ward at Lismore Base twice last winter with influenza A and congestion in the right (good) lung. This winter she is a lot stronger, bigger and more resilient so we are a lot more confident she will fight the winter bugs with her fierce determination.
I recently put a video on Facebook of my first hold of Drew, (so far has 4.8K views) one I hadn’t in fear it might be too confronting for the public. Of late there has been a number of babies dying from CDH in Australia and when I heard this, the emotion from those early days came flooding back. Drew was so sick the doctors had little faith she would pull through so the fact that I could hold Drew at 24 days was exhilarating despite the long road ahead.
So where from here? Her next sleep study is in September after the winter. This will determine whether her lungs are strong enough to be rid of the oxygen during the day, and only have it at night when she sleeps. So fingers crossed she gets through this winter unscathed and is in fighting spirits to say goodbye to the tapes and tubes on her cute little face.
(Dom and Elisa with the beautiful Drew)