A.J.’s Radiothon Story

Little AJ is 3 months aged and starting to find his giggling voice. To caller ma Liz, it’s the astir joyful sound, since conscionable a fewer months ago, that small voice, adjacent his cry, was soundless portion a ventilator took implicit his breathing.

When AJ was calved afloat word astatine the Rockyview Hospital, helium developed meconium aspiration syndrome – helium inhaled the meconium, oregon baby’s archetypal poop, successful the amniotic fluid arsenic helium was being delivered. The meconium coated his lungs, causing him to conflict to breathe. He was connected Liz’s thorax for 30 seconds, earlier doctors whisked him distant to that hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). There, helium was intubated – a breathing conduit inserted into his airway and hooked up to a ventilator to respire for him. When helium was stabilized, helium was transferred to the Alberta Children’s Hospital’s Edward Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for pediatric captious care.

For the adjacent 5 days, AJ remained intubated successful the NICU. While bittersweet to spot a instrumentality taking implicit his breathing, and not proceeding him marque sound oregon outcry for days, Liz and hubby Matt stayed by his broadside portion specialists kept adjacent ticker implicit him. In summation to providing him breathing support, and suctioning of the meconium from his lungs, his squad monitored his encephalon arsenic good owed to the oxygen helium mislaid astatine commencement by mode of a cooling blanket, funded by donors, that dropped his assemblage somesthesia to assistance sphere encephalon function.

Liz says the NICU squad not lone cared for her babe lad but supported her and Matt too. By involving them successful his attraction and regular routines, including diaper changes, Liz says the “the metallic lining with staying successful the NICU, is they taught america however to beryllium parents.” He graduated from a ventilator to CPAP machine, and past low-flow oxygen done nasal prongs for his breathing support. A week into his care, Liz was yet capable to clasp her babe again and breastfeed him. After 2 ½ weeks successful the NICU, Liz and Matt happily took their babe home. Today helium is simply a smiley babe who is learning to rotation and footwear his legs.

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Liz says she can’t enactment into words however thankful she and Matt are to their squad astatine the NICU for the attraction they provided their lad and for donors who enactment exertion similar ventilators for the NICU that helped support her babe live and turn stronger. It’s wherefore they are grateful to beryllium capable to stock their communicative arsenic portion of this Equipment Power Hour to assistance the NICU get a caller ventilator to assistance prevention much babies’ lives.