Leah Samara Corrales Godoy

My name is Leah Samara Corrales Godoy and this is my story….

I was born on April 30th, 2020 with ONLY 27 gestational weeks (6 months).

I was born vaginally, reason that caused one of my problems, two interventricular brain hemorrhages, which later became foci of epilepsy and turned to become West syndrome.

When I was diagnosed with West syndrome I had a seizure every 3 seconds and this was permanent, that's how I lived in the day and during sleep. In addition to this, I was informed that I would present neurological regression, that is, that I would not be able to develop as a normal girl.

At 2 weeks of being born, I weighed a little less than 2 pounds, when I acquired pneumonia associated with health services in the hospital, due to a bacteria resistant to antibiotics and as if that was not enough at 19 days old, I developed necrotizing enterocolitis, a disease of the intestine that happened to be at its maximum stage and perforating my descending colon. I needed to undergo through emergency surgery weighing less than a thousand grans with pneumonia and in a critical condition.

I survived surgery, but with a remaining colostomy, in a critical condition, intubated and in need of medications to support my pressure and heart rate.

Few days after of being intubated, I began to present collapses of portions in my lungs, and one of those days, my completely right lung collapsed and never opened again. That conditioned my recovery, and I had to be connected to a mechanical ventilator for 65 days after surgery. The doctors didn’t know what was happening to me and why I didn’t improve; they needed to perform a bronchoscopy to determine the cause of the collapse, but I was too small and the bronchoscope camera was too large, so they had to wait almost 1 month to be able to perform the procedure, days after was determine that my airway was so inflamated, secondary to intubation and mucus aspiration. But I managed to get discharged from the Hospital! After 95 days hospitalized and dependent on oxygen, I was able to go home. God never left me alone and only 2 months after being discharged my left lung began to compensate the lack of the right one and my need for oxygen became only for the nights.

But another new problem arose next year, my airway began to behave like an asthmatic person and started with an increase in the production of bronchial and pulmonary secretions and also poor elimination of these. That caused that in mid of 2021, I was hospitalized due to an increase of oxygen need. I could barely breathe and needed up to 10 liters of oxygen to be well. Despite this, I once again overcame all bad prognosis and was discharged again with need of oxygen and with constant secretion problems, because basically, my collapsed right lung only dedicates to produce secretions.

By December 2021, my parents decided to get the colostomy closed, but nothing turned out as we expected. The surgery that seemed simple and quick ended up being a nightmare of two months of hospitalization. I went through emergency surgeries for a second and third time. The second surgery lasted almost 4 hours and I after it I went straight to intensive care in very bad condition; It is worth mentioning that only a week had passed since the first surgery and I hadn’t eaten at all. Things did not look good and one week after that second surgery, the Dr had to perform a third one because I had produced small perforations in my intestine due to the poor nutrition which I was suffering. The Dr operated on me for the third time with a high probability of a negative outcome BUT I survived. This time with an enterocutaneous fistula plus the colostomy that could not be closed.

For 3 weeks I remained in intensive care. I lost almost 3 kilos of weight and spent 6 weeks hospitalized.

I recently had two relapses due to my lung-based problem, causing me significant breathing problems. Due to this, I developed pulmonary hypertension, that didn’t exist until now. The doctors who specialize in my lungs say that I need surgery to remove my collapsed lung and improve my quality of life and this is only part of all, because I also need abdominal surgery again to close my colostomy and remaining fistula.

Everyone would believe that because of all this I have some kind of problem in my development, but what nobody knows is that God hasn’t left me alone. And that despite of being told so many times that I will not survive, even before I was born, here I still am, stronger than ever. I am happy and I am developing completely normal.

When my right lung doesn't bother me, I breathe well. I have gained the weight and height necessary for my age. I run I scream, I start to talk, I hardly like to eat but I am sure that with God on my side, I can win any battle.

So please, help me breathe.