Emma’s Journey - Page 3
Despite the fact that she was physically quite stable her prognosis seemed to change by the hour. We were called in to see the consultants on numerous occasions to discuss their different concerns. At first it was her heart and there was talk that she might need a transplant. There was also concern about her brain and at one point we were told that she would have little hope of independent living. Next they were worried about her kidneys saying that if they did not start working soon she would need dialysis for a year and then multiple transplants through her life. The many scans and investigations never told us anything definite; the range of possibilities was always huge and we never knew from one day to the next what future we were supposed to be preparing for. In the end, most of the concerns seemed relatively unfounded.
Each time her clinical picture changed we readjusted our thinking and made new plans, but never gave up hope that we would bring her home.
Seven out of eight babies that go on ECMO with Enterovirus do not get off again safely but 18 days after starting treatment, Emma beat the odds and came off safely. She was exactly one month old and, after everything we had all been through, we felt as if she had been reborn.
We
were overjoyed and spent the next two days planning our lives together.
At 03:30 the next morning we had a call to say that Emma had “collapsed”
very badly. I rushed into the hospital and called Kate. She came and took
over looking after Oliver so that Neil could be with me and Emma. We were
told that she had a Fungal Septicaemia and the chances of her surviving
were slim.