Congenital Lobe Emphysema
"Ashleigh Otis" Michelle Otis Ashleigh was sent from East Baptist in Montgomery to CHS on June 6, 2006 with pulmonary distress. Admitted into the NICU, she developed CLE which caused her to have the removal of part of the left upper lobe of her lung. Two weeks later she had the other part of her lung removed due to expansion and causing a shift in her heart and collapsing the right side of the lungs. After extensive treatments through all that, she was traiched and put on a ventilator for trachea and bronchial malachia. She was in the NICU for five months then moved to the pulmonary unit where she stayed for another four months. During that time she developed an aversion to eating and had surgery for g-tube and fundo. We were released to come on the ventilator program on March 6, 2007. It was so joyful but scary at the same time. There are no words what my heart feels for CHS and the staff there. I will never forget after Ashleigh's first surgery and the critical state she was in, that Dr. Makris stayed by her side all night long and told us he didn't think she was going to make it through the night, but he continued to stay and she did make it through. It's not just the doctors, but the special things the nurses did to make things easier and taking care of your child like they were their own, was just awesome.
