Esophageal Atresia/Tracheo-Esophageal Fistula
Avery was born July 10, 2009. As soon as she was born we discovered that she had a few problems. They flew her to Children’s in Birmingham AL. They discovered she had more problems than they expected her to have. They diagnosed Avery with TEF; it stands for Esophageal Atresia/Tracheo-Esophageal Fistula. TEF is a rare congenital birth defect which affects approximately 1 in 4,000 babies. With EA/TEF, a baby is unable to swallow, and may also have trouble breathing. They also found Atrial and Ventricular Septal defects which are holes in the heart. They also found out that Avery’s kidneys were very small and she didn’t have a blatter. Avery is a very strong little girl and doesn’t even know it yet. She has been at Children’s every day of her life. They have tried to correct her TEF four times and it is still not functioning. Avery has just had heart surgery and her holes have been fixed. We still have a long way to go but she is a fighter.
