Everyday Miracles, An Excerpt
Claire's Battle with CDH
By Andrea Stenlund
To me, my little Claire is a miracle. She has gone through
more in her life as a baby than most adults do. She is my hero, my strength, my
motivation to make it through each and every day.
It started when
Claire was around six and a half weeks old. She started acting differently. She
was usually a good nurser, so when she started not wanting to eat, it sent up
red flags. Then, eventually, she started to vomit which lasted almost twenty-four
hours. I was thinking maybe she just had a stomach bug that her sisters gave
her possibly, but when we woke up on Sunday morning, I felt something was
terribly wrong after she vomited up bile. I called my mom to come stay with
Claire’s sisters because I felt it was urgent and wanted to bring her into the emergency
room. So, I took her in. They tried to set up an IV at the first hospital
because of dehydration, but they couldn't get it in; at least three or four
nurses tried. They did x-rays, and that's when they had a diagnosis. The ER doctor
told me she had a diaphragmatic hernia. I had no idea what this was. He
explained it to me a little bit, but told me we had to be transferred to St.
Mary's Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota so they could perform an emergency
surgery. I had no idea it was this serious. I held her and tried to keep her
calm. They didn't want me to try to feed her due to her upcoming surgery.
We rode by
ambulance which seemed to take forever, and we were brought into the ER in this
hospital. They got the IV in instantly and hooked a breathing tube up because
her oxygen level was low. Her heartbeat was also extremely high, so they were
just watching that. We were transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
She was hooked up to so many machines; to this day...I'm still not even sure
what exactly was going on.
When we were
transferred to the top floor, it completely hit me; and, I fell apart. As they
were doing more IVs, I had a complete breakdown. The nurses were wonderful
though, and the doctor I talked to really helped me calm down and understand
everything that was going on. We waited all night...couldn't feed her anything...and
she was so upset with me, but I would not put Claire down for anything. She
needed me, and I was determined to be there for her regardless of anything.
Claire had surgery Monday morning at seven o’clock in the morning. It was
a couple hour surgery, and it was a complete success. Luckily, they could fix
her hernia with her own diaphragm instead of using a foreign material. While
she was in surgery; they were setting up her room with ventilators, and other
machines that would help her heart and her lungs. Once I got to see her in the
recovery room...she wasn’t hooked up to anything! No breathing machines,
nothing! They were absolutely shocked and said she was a complete miracle. We
only stayed in the hospital one more day and were free to go home.
We were so
blessed, and Claire is a complete miracle. As of today, she is doing great. Her
lungs are fully developed, and her heart is almost completely fully developed.
You would never know she had such a major surgery and ordeal if you didn't see
the scar on her abdomen. Every day, I am grateful and thankful that my Claire
is still with us!
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