Alfie's 1st year...

Alfie David Carline was born on Friday 6th July 2012 @ 1513hrs delivered by emergency cesarean after aspirating meconium and as such had damaged his lungs.  He was taken straight to Intensive Care where he remained for 3 days before being transferred to Special Care. At 10 days old a murmur was found and so testing commenced. Alfie was given an Echo which revealed he had a large inlet VSD (hole between the ventricles of the heart) He was transferred to Yorkhill for further examination. At 2 weeks old Alfie went home for the first time, however this was short lived. Alfie was in heart failure and struggled to feed. A nasal gastric feeding tube was inserted and again he returned home only to be re-admitted every week with viral infections. On the 14th September 2012 Alfie was taken to Crosshouse Hospital with trouble breathing. There he collapsed and had to be placed onto life support and a team from the Peadiatric Intensive Care Unit @ Yorkhill were arranged to collect him to take him to there, unsure if he would survive the journey. He remained on life support and another 2 heart defects were detected (Coarctation of the Aorta and Pulmonary Stenosis). Alfie was also diagnosed with pneumonia and remained critically ill. On the 3rd of October Alfie was taken for exploratory surgery on his tummy due to swelling and excess fluid in the tummy, this surgery revealed Alfie large bowel had been decomposing and full of holes. His large bowel was completely removed and his small bowel brought out his body and placed into a stoma bag. On the 19th of November Alfie was taken for more investigative surgery as he had trouble being extubated from the ventilator (life support). This revealed growths on his windpipe and after removal more attempts were made to extubate with no success. On the 22nd November again Alfie had more surgery however this revealed that his main artery which supplies blood from his heart to his right arm was wrapped around his windpipe (vascular ring) blocking his airway. This time the decision was made, it was time for his heart repair. On the 27th November 2012 Alfie had his full repair. After 9 agonising hours, his hole was patched, his vascular ring was dissected and his stenosis and coarctation were removed. Alfie underwent genetic testing which revealed on the 16th January 2013, that Alfie has Williams Syndrome an extremely rare genetic condition. On the 30th January 2013 Alfie underwent more surgery this time to place his small bowel back inside his body in the hope that his body will adapt with not having a large bowel. On the 17th April 2013 Alfie underwent Cardiac Catheter as his pulmonary stenosis and coarctation of Aorta has returned however this surgery was unsuccessful and as such we are waiting for a plan for his next stage of repair.

Alfie recently turned 1, a day which we never thought he would see, but he is here, fighting and getting stronger everyday. His future is uncertain but thanks to the condition they call the beautiful mystery (Williams Syndrome) he brightens up everyone's  day with his cheeky smile.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read our page, without the help and care the the PICU @ Yorkhill Alfie wouldn't be the boy he is today, please help his day thank you and donate whatever you can, Thank you, Love Jen, Alana and Nicola xxx