Namine
Namine Olivia Eiche was born on July 15, 2008 with a double-inlet left ventricle heart defect; Pierre Robin sequence, a condition that resulted in a regressed jaw and a partial (U-shaped) cleft palate; caudal regression syndrome (also known as sacral agenesis), which damages the growth of the tailbone and legs, also giving her clubfoot; and scoliosis.
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Forevvvver
I am going to die waiting for my sandwich in the hospital deli. At least I got a free cookie.
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Full speed ahead
The CV surgical team met this morning to decide on what to do with Namine – whether to try another wound vac or just close her chest. And the final decision has come down that they’re going to close her up.
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No rest tonight
Everything seemed calm at 12:30. Namine was resting peacefully; her wound vac chugging away silently, slowly doing its job; no alarms alarmed. I felt safe that I, too, could rest. I was wrong.
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Done and done
Namine’s operating cardiac surgeon just came out to tell us that they’ve finished. And good news all around.
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Constant vigilance!
But seriously, a huuuge thank-you to everybody keeping Namine in your prayers. We’re here in the surgery waiting area, and a nurse just informed us that they’re getting started now. I’ll update as things progress.
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Namine’s prayer
Dear Jesus, please help my chest heal so I can feel better and come home. They’re coming to take Namine back soon. Please keep her in your prayers.
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The coming storm
It is as we feared: the cardiovascular surgical team is concerned for Namine’s chest incision, and they will be taking Namine to the OR in order to open it back up.
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Calm between storms
Spending the weekend in the hospital is, above all else, boring. We pass the time by playing games, watching TV, playing more games, watching a movie… you get the idea. But as we near Tuesday (the day we were not quite promised, but we were told that we could possibly go home), we fear that…
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Introducing Captain Bats
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At last, an end in sight
Seeing the doctors take Namine away to the operating room is never easy. I actually think it gets harder as she gets older. Seeing the pain in her eyes just breaks my heart. I thought it might make it easier if I came back with her, so we asked the doctors if that would be…
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What Namine wants to be for Halloween
“For Halloween I want to be a Fairy Princess Ninja Batman Pony.”
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Getting the story straight
Namine’s operating cardiac surgeon paid us a visit this morning. He told us he believes there is no reason to open her incision back up. She’s healing too well, he said, and her markers of infection are too low. It would be overkill, then, to open the incision all the way back up just to…