Arabella the warrior

So, Arabella was born 27th February and we were told she was a healthy baby. At 12 days old she was rushed to hospital with low oxygen levels and we almost lost her. They gave us the diagnosis of Tetralogy of Fallot with additional atrial septal defect. This is a combination of serious heart defects, where her pulmonary artery was completely closed.

They fitted her with a stent and told us she would need open heart surgery at 6 months old.

However she declined very quickly over the past couple weeks and led to emergency admission to Freeman cardiac unit at 13 weeks.

On assessment the stent had adhered to her pulmonary artery and completely trashed it, so her lungs weren’t getting the blood they needed to then pump oxygen round her body and every time she fell asleep her blood oxygen level would plummet.

They decided they needed to operate as an emergency and found her a slot last night. They corrected 4 of her 5 defects but can’t correct one yet.

It’s a long road to recovery and because they couldn’t save her original artery she will need further open heart surgeries when the one they’ve built starts to fail down the line.

We are in on site accommodation, but food costs for here, and to support the twins at home, are crippling.