A blog to let everyone know how Lila is doing as well as my ruminations on the ways that her illness impacts our life.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
We have been at the hospital for 20 minutes and so far I'm not impressed, partly because I am so nervous. We've not actually seen any medical personnel. And there's lots of time to change my mind. Hopefully I'll write later and say, "I was so wrong! They are amazing!" Here's hoping.
Lilac started to get sick in November of 2007 when she was one year old. She began to have trouble breathing and to get tired very easily. The doctors diagnosed her with asthma and started her on many asthma meds. She kept getting sick. We spent Christmas of 2007 in the hospital which was lonely and miserable. Lila went in for allergy testing soon after that, and tested negative but with a small sensitivity to mold. We discovered that there was mold in the house we had just moved into. We immediately moved out, leaving all our possessions behind, to stay in a church members house. Lila continued to be sick and in the hospital every four weeks or so. We moved into a new house in June of 2008 and got rid of all our furniture, stuffed animals, and appliances which still had mold contamination. It was a tough time. Lila continued to have trouble. We heard many, many theories - that she might have a fungal infection from the mold, that the mold had made her lungs hyper-sensitive, the she had severe allergies. Finally we were sent to a pediatric pulmonologist. He did more tests. We discovered that her lung capacity was poor, much poorer than it should be, even when she was healthy. We also found out that she has severe reflux, which likely makes her breathing worse when she aspirates stomach acid. She went on more medication. We saw a brief improvement. Then in early 2009 her breathing started to get worse again. She has had to be in the hospital every three to four weeks since January, with more ER visits in between. She had her first ICU stay in May of 2009. It took her a long time to bounce back.
This was her life for years - ups and downs, new medicines, new theories, better and then worse and more time in a hospital than any kid should have.
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