Charleigh’s Story

Thankful doesnt even begin to describe what we are for Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

When we arrived at the ER with four week old baby girl, she was grey skinned, breathing shallow and looked lifeless. Her temperature was upwards of 104 degrees, and we weren’t able to wake her up. We were immediately greeted by friendly faces that got our daughter the care needed to save her life quickly and efficiently. The staff worked to find the cause of the unknown infection in her little body and within hours, we had our answer. Charleigh had developed an infection in both kidneys, as well as her urinary tract. We were admitted to C5B with the most incredible staff of nurses and doctors ready to get our baby back to healthy. After four days on the floor, we were discharged with the hope that this was a one time occurrence and that our sweet girl was on track for a healthy, happy life.

Unfortunately, three weeks later, we found ourselves back in the ER with our second kidney and UTI inside of two short months of life. The staff was quick to have us referred to the Urology team, and we were scheduled for invasive testing two weeks later. While invasive testing is not something you enjoy seeing your child go through, we were so grateful for a knowledgable team who treated our daughter like their own child, and kept her as comfortable as possible throughout the procedure and found a diagnosis for the recurrent infections.

Charleigh was diagnosed with Grade 3 Vesicoureteral Reflux in both kidneys. In short, her urinary tract was not long enough to support her bladder and her urine was backing up on either side causing severe infections. This diagnosis can be outgrown, and with the help of prophylactic antibiotics and several other daily medications, we are able to keep the infections from recurring, but outgrowing the condition can be a lengthy process. Charleigh could be medicated ranging anywhere from three to seven years with quarterly trips to Nationwide for ultrasounds and yearly invasive testing to see the progress of the reflux.

While no parent ever wants to see their child hurting, or having to deal with the things that our sweet girl has gone through in just seven months of life, we are forever grateful for Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the care that they provide our daughter on an ongoing basis. When we were scared that we may not leave that emergency room with our baby alive, the care we received that night was everything to us.

Our daughter is alive today because of Nationwide, and that is a gift that we could never say thank you for enough.

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https://flutter.nationwidechildrens.org/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/4-ede9f44fbfc12d4ad796078917b471d6/2017/09/IMG_6277.jpg

Thankful doesnt even begin to describe what we are for Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

When we arrived at the ER with four week old baby girl, she was grey skinned, breathing shallow and looked lifeless. Her temperature was upwards of 104 degrees, and we weren’t able to wake her up. We were immediately greeted by friendly faces that got our daughter the care needed to save her life quickly and efficiently. The staff worked to find the cause of the unknown infection in her little body and within hours, we had our answer. Charleigh had developed an infection in both kidneys, as well as her urinary tract. We were admitted to C5B with the most incredible staff of nurses and doctors ready to get our baby back to healthy. After four days on the floor, we were discharged with the hope that this was a one time occurrence and that our sweet girl was on track for a healthy, happy life.

Unfortunately, three weeks later, we found ourselves back in the ER with our second kidney and UTI inside of two short months of life. The staff was quick to have us referred to the Urology team, and we were scheduled for invasive testing two weeks later. While invasive testing is not something you enjoy seeing your child go through, we were so grateful for a knowledgable team who treated our daughter like their own child, and kept her as comfortable as possible throughout the procedure and found a diagnosis for the recurrent infections.

Charleigh was diagnosed with Grade 3 Vesicoureteral Reflux in both kidneys. In short, her urinary tract was not long enough to support her bladder and her urine was backing up on either side causing severe infections. This diagnosis can be outgrown, and with the help of prophylactic antibiotics and several other daily medications, we are able to keep the infections from recurring, but outgrowing the condition can be a lengthy process. Charleigh could be medicated ranging anywhere from three to seven years with quarterly trips to Nationwide for ultrasounds and yearly invasive testing to see the progress of the reflux.

While no parent ever wants to see their child hurting, or having to deal with the things that our sweet girl has gone through in just seven months of life, we are forever grateful for Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the care that they provide our daughter on an ongoing basis. When we were scared that we may not leave that emergency room with our baby alive, the care we received that night was everything to us.

Our daughter is alive today because of Nationwide, and that is a gift that we could never say thank you for enough.

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