AmericanMum

After over a week of absolute familial anguish, some good days and some not-so-good days, it looks like my neice, baby Phoebe, may be coming home in a few days. Pictured right is the new family just a few days before the trip to Children’s, blissfully unaware of the trip they’d be taking. It is hard to tell from this picture of her, but when we were there taking this photo it was apparent that her jaundice needed to be looked into - her eyes and skin were very yellow.

The doctors at Children’s Hospital determined a few days ago that her liver bile ducts were blocked. Biliary Atresia was suspected which would have meant major surgery on her one month old liver to construct new bile ducts out of her intestinal material. 70% of kids with this disease will need a liver transplant eventually.

Yesterday a liver biopsy was performed, and it was determined that they are 95% sure that Phoebe’s liver has miraculously started working on its own. They’ll need another day’s round of testing to confirm, then they will be staying in Seattle a few more days, still as patients but as an outpatient basis.

Another update: Phoebe’s been diagnosed with neonatal hepatitis, a “fuzzier” diagnosis, but from the pieces of information I’m hearing, in Phoebe’s case it’s a much more manageable disease with better outcomes than the Biliary Atresia recently suspected.  I haven’t got all the details, but I know they’ll be in Seattle for another week just to monitor things and to make sure of the diagnosis, but they should be back home in a week or so, with regular trips over the mountains to check on things.

It looks like our positive energy/prayers have worked! Thanks all who helped. I am eternally grateful. Seriously.