Hi everyone,
It has been...wow...a LONG time since I've been on here. I hope everyone is doing great! I'm on here after what could only be described as an unbelieveable year...
Last Christmas Day, I gave birth to our son, Cabell (rhymes with "scrabble" or "babble"). He was beautiful and we thought he was the picture of health. At three months old, he wound up in the hospital with bronchitis and after that just never was the same...he would hardly eat, couldn't breathe well, etc. etc. After months and months of going to the doctor and not figuring out what was wrong, the doctor took an x-ray because they heard fluid in his lungs. What they discovered was a grossly enlarged heart.
Cabell was immediately taken by ambulance to a hospital in Atlanta and diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a rare disease in which the heart enlarges and cannot pump efficiently. 1/3 of all DCM patients get better with oral medicine, 1/3 simply stabilize on oral meds, and 1/3 die without a heart transplant. Unfortunately, the doctors learned very quickly that Cabell was in that last third. He was listed for a heart transplant on 7/7/09.
On 8/26/09, we got the call that a donor heart had become available. Cabell had a successful heart transplant that afternoon and now, almost 3.5 months later, I am very happy to announce that he is doing AMAZING. He eats like a dream, sleeps through the night, and is starting to hit some of the developmental milestones that he missed out on during his 99 days living in a hospital bed.
To say that our family has been through QUITE a year is an understatement, but Cabell has emerged victorious and we are so grateful to God, his amazing doctors, nurses, and transplant team, and to the incredibly courageous and generous donor family who gave our son a chance at life!
I've missed everyone here and hope you all are doing great!
Amy
PS- Eponine and Cosette are doing just great!
They love their baby!
It has been...wow...a LONG time since I've been on here. I hope everyone is doing great! I'm on here after what could only be described as an unbelieveable year...
Last Christmas Day, I gave birth to our son, Cabell (rhymes with "scrabble" or "babble"). He was beautiful and we thought he was the picture of health. At three months old, he wound up in the hospital with bronchitis and after that just never was the same...he would hardly eat, couldn't breathe well, etc. etc. After months and months of going to the doctor and not figuring out what was wrong, the doctor took an x-ray because they heard fluid in his lungs. What they discovered was a grossly enlarged heart.
Cabell was immediately taken by ambulance to a hospital in Atlanta and diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, a rare disease in which the heart enlarges and cannot pump efficiently. 1/3 of all DCM patients get better with oral medicine, 1/3 simply stabilize on oral meds, and 1/3 die without a heart transplant. Unfortunately, the doctors learned very quickly that Cabell was in that last third. He was listed for a heart transplant on 7/7/09.
On 8/26/09, we got the call that a donor heart had become available. Cabell had a successful heart transplant that afternoon and now, almost 3.5 months later, I am very happy to announce that he is doing AMAZING. He eats like a dream, sleeps through the night, and is starting to hit some of the developmental milestones that he missed out on during his 99 days living in a hospital bed.
To say that our family has been through QUITE a year is an understatement, but Cabell has emerged victorious and we are so grateful to God, his amazing doctors, nurses, and transplant team, and to the incredibly courageous and generous donor family who gave our son a chance at life!
I've missed everyone here and hope you all are doing great!
Amy
PS- Eponine and Cosette are doing just great!
