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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Risk versus benefit
Earlier today I had mentioned that the culture taken from Namine’s chest incision indicated that she has MRSA. Before the culture results had come back, the doctors had put Namine on clindamycin as a precautionary measure, as they suspected infection (pus oozing out of a wound, with barely a touch to provoke it, will do…
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Conflicting stories
Mike, our favorite physician’s assistant, just gave us an updated report on all things Namine. The doctor from infectious diseases, as I mentioned, wants to open Namine’s chest and clean it out. But Namine’s operating cardiac surgeon does not.
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Once more unto the breach
The doctor from the infectious diseases just paid us a visit. His recommendation is that Namine’s chest should be opened back up, cleaned out, and closed up again.
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Straight talk
Namine is on contact isolation here in the hospital; that means that nurses and doctors must don their gowns and gloves when entering the room, but we – by we I mean her family, not just Jessica and myself – mustn’t. And as for the reason she’s on isolation at all? The culture taken from…
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Incision complications
Namine has been here in the hospital since Monday, and we still don’t have an idea of when she’ll be able to go home. Despite having a CT scan, the doctors can’t explain why the incision in her chest is opening up again.
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Namine’s quote of the day
Daddy, it’s a bug! Quick, you gotta BAM it!
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An argument on the grody-ness, or not, of girls
Me: Girls are grody. Namine: Girls aren’t grody, you’re grody! Me: I’m not grody, you’re grody. Namine: You are! Me: You are! Namine: You are! Jessica: Would both of you please stop arguing!
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Bowling and frozen yogurt
Today we took Namine bowling. We’ve played with her bowling set at Aunt CR’s house before, but this was her first time at a bowling alley. Fortunately for us, the alley had a wheelchair ramp and a special slide to make it easy for someone in a wheelchair to send the ball down the lane.
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Namine’s shoulder
We heard from one of Namine’s doctors yesterday. He called to inform us a bit about her right shoulder, which we recently discovered is not bad because of multiple line placements, but rather because of a birth defect.
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The Cupboardy Lion
Tonight Namine was playing with her Wizard of Oz toys from McDonald’s. She introduced every one of them to me.
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Steampunk foxes
Before dinner, Namine asked me how to draw a fox. I don’t really draw realistic things, like, at all, so I quick sketched out what seems to be a cat with a fox’s tail. No matter; it was good enough for Namine, and she sketched out a fox of her own. I thought it was…
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What matters most
Yesterday we found out that Namine’s most recent x-ray shows evidence of a congenital defect in her right shoulder.