 |
| Jochelle - July 2010 |
Jochelle Lombaard was born on 20 March 2010. At the age of 3½ months she was admitted to Kloof Hospital with acute kidney infection after various tests were administered on her. While she was in hospital, she contracted severe pneumonia.
Three days later her heart suddenly stopped. By the grace of God, the paediatrician, Dr Schuman and the nurses resuscitated her. She was put on a ventilator to keep her alive. The nurse’s words to us were: “We won’t take it day by day or even hour by hour. We will take it second by second.” No one knew whether our little girl would survive. Jochelle was unable to breathe by herself and her body temperature was lowered to prevent swelling of the brain. We were not allowed to speak to her or even touch her the first 72 hours because it quickened her heart beat and increased her blood pressure. We could only pray.
Jochelle underwent a series of tests which included scanning of the brain, kidneys, heart, liver and stomach. She also underwent an MRI scan to determine the cause of her heart failure. On 23 August of that year, Jochelle was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease. It is an extremely rare disease which causes inflammation of the arteries in various organs. Jochelle was the youngest known case with this disease in South Africa. She was given two doses of intravenous globulin and a blood transfusion. Our prayers were answered in that she healed quite quickly. The doctors even called her the “miracle baby.”
 |
| Jochelle in hospital |
On 21 September the cardiologist informed us that Jochelle had an aneurism in her artery which implies that she would be unable to participate in sport in order to prevent a quickening of the heart rate because this increases the risk of a heart attack.
On 5 October she as admitted to Kloof Hospital again for an emergency operation. The Kawasaki caused an inflammation in her colon and small intestine. The first operation was not successful and on 18 October she had to be operated on again.
In November the paediatrician suspected that Jochelle might possibly also suffer from Polyarteritis Nodosa. As she was still too small to be tested properly, it could not be confirmed. In November 2012 Jochelle will have to undergo tests again. This includes an injection of some matter in her heart and kidneys to determine the extent of possible damage.
Today Jochelle is 2 years and 4 months old. She is the sunshine of our lives. We still have to go for tests regularly and due to the aneurism she gets tired quickly and is sick more often than other children. She is on chronic medication: Disprin (to dilute the blood), Amloc, Purbloka (to monitor her blood pressure), Losec (to regulate her heart beat) and Cherafur (an iron supplement).
