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Hello again, everyone!
Baby Reese has had a rollercoaster first 5 months of her life. Reese’s heart condition, Tetralogy of Fallot, required Reese to have open heart surgery on June 26th at just four months old.
After Reese’s first 8 hour surgery, she was requiring a lot of medical support. Her oxygen saturations were borderline within defined limits, something that wasn’t expected to occur post-operatively. Because of this, her cardiothoracic surgeon had to reopen Reese’s chest to resolve concerns with the initial surgical repair in order for her lungs to provide enough systemic oxygenated blood. According to Mom, Reese’s arteries to her lungs clamped down decreasing oxygen to her body, so she was sent back to the cath lab. In order for Reese to receive proper oxygenation, she was temporarily placed on a complex machine known as ECMO, a machine that can only be run by specially trained staff members. This machine is able to do the job her heart and lungs are originally functioned to do, providing oxygenated blood to her vessels so her organs could be perfused.
Within just 5 days, Reese experienced two open heart surgeries and two cardiac catheterizations but has been taking baby steps in the right direction. Healthcare staff has been able to take Reese off her paralytic, remove her breathing tube, close her chest, and remove her chest tubes. As her lines started to slowly be taken away, Reese began to experience withdrawal symptoms as she was weaned off her sedation medications. Reese has had a lot of difficulty findings interest in being fed by mouth and has had issues vomiting from her tube feeds.
July 26th, exactly a month after being admitted, Reese and her parents were able to be discharged! Reese was sent home with a nasogastric tube in place for feeding provisions. Reese, little Miss Warrior Princess, has been through a lot and has a long road to recovery, but Alyssa and Dave are happy to be home and hope this will promote healing for Reese.
This past month has emotionally and monetarily taxing for the Zielke family. Since February, Dave has been searching and applying for jobs, and Alyssa has taken FMLA and used up all of her PTO hours at work. I have high suspicions that the Zielke’s could use additional monetary support right now before the medical bills start to roll in. I need all of your help! Please help me spread the word of Baby Z’s gofundme page to family and friends through text, e-mail and/or facebook to support the Zielke family at this time. Your support is so much appreciated.
https://www.gofundme.com/5t-baby-z
Aileen
Baby Reese has had a rollercoaster first 5 months of her life. Reese’s heart condition, Tetralogy of Fallot, required Reese to have open heart surgery on June 26th at just four months old.
After Reese’s first 8 hour surgery, she was requiring a lot of medical support. Her oxygen saturations were borderline within defined limits, something that wasn’t expected to occur post-operatively. Because of this, her cardiothoracic surgeon had to reopen Reese’s chest to resolve concerns with the initial surgical repair in order for her lungs to provide enough systemic oxygenated blood. According to Mom, Reese’s arteries to her lungs clamped down decreasing oxygen to her body, so she was sent back to the cath lab. In order for Reese to receive proper oxygenation, she was temporarily placed on a complex machine known as ECMO, a machine that can only be run by specially trained staff members. This machine is able to do the job her heart and lungs are originally functioned to do, providing oxygenated blood to her vessels so her organs could be perfused.
Within just 5 days, Reese experienced two open heart surgeries and two cardiac catheterizations but has been taking baby steps in the right direction. Healthcare staff has been able to take Reese off her paralytic, remove her breathing tube, close her chest, and remove her chest tubes. As her lines started to slowly be taken away, Reese began to experience withdrawal symptoms as she was weaned off her sedation medications. Reese has had a lot of difficulty findings interest in being fed by mouth and has had issues vomiting from her tube feeds.
July 26th, exactly a month after being admitted, Reese and her parents were able to be discharged! Reese was sent home with a nasogastric tube in place for feeding provisions. Reese, little Miss Warrior Princess, has been through a lot and has a long road to recovery, but Alyssa and Dave are happy to be home and hope this will promote healing for Reese.
This past month has emotionally and monetarily taxing for the Zielke family. Since February, Dave has been searching and applying for jobs, and Alyssa has taken FMLA and used up all of her PTO hours at work. I have high suspicions that the Zielke’s could use additional monetary support right now before the medical bills start to roll in. I need all of your help! Please help me spread the word of Baby Z’s gofundme page to family and friends through text, e-mail and/or facebook to support the Zielke family at this time. Your support is so much appreciated.
https://www.gofundme.com/5t-baby-z
Aileen