These last few weeks have been whirlwind. Lola would go a few days without having a bradycardia/apnea spell and then randomly she would have one. We addressed so many issues we thought were contributing to the spells; constipation, reflux, etc. One of the doctors ordered an x-ray for Lola. In the x-ray it showed that the lower part of her right lung is partially collapsed and her lungs look wet. At the time, the doctors didn't know if this was happening because she was starting to get an infection, so an antibiotic was started and x-rays were ordered for everyday to see if there would be an improvement.
The next day after the antibiotics were started, another x-ray was taken and it showed what is called an evantration of the diaphragm. Lola was most likely born with this and due to being on a ventilator and high flow oxygen, her right lung stayed open. An evantration is when the diaphragm is weak and stretched out, so her liver is pushing against the diaphragm, putting pressure on the lower part of her right lung. However when moving to the regular cannula, her lung couldn't stay open all the way. This is probably the reason for the bradycardia and the apnea spells. It is twice as much work for her to breathe.
There is a surgery to fix this, we have a CT scan and it looks a little more severe than we thought it was, we are waiting for the attending surgeon from Primary Children's Hospital to get back from vacation so we can figure out what we will happen. The surgery would be a plication of her diaphragm. Either they will sew the weak spot together or they will fold the diaphragm in half to make a thicker membrane. There is a chance that she would need to get the surgery again, if there is no muscle in the diaphragm. We won't know that until a few years after the surgery after it really heals and if muscle will grow around the stitch.
We don't know if Lola will need surgery now or later. We do know that they like to do this surgery within the first 6 months of life because there is more success. We also know that the surgery would be at Primary Children's and the recover period is anywhere from one to four weeks depending on how she does and if they fix her diaphragm with a scope or go through the abdomen.
On May 30th, Lola hit her 2 month mark. She was not happy about it.
On June 10th, Lola hit 40 weeks. She is officially a full term baby.
On June 11th, Lola had her first adventure outside the NICU, she got a CT scan!
