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Subglottic Hemangioma

This is Kaylee Selfridge at 9 years old. At birth she was perfect. At 8 weeks old, she gave us a real scare. She turned blue one evening at home, we rushed to the ER in Montgomery, and they told us she had croup. After a couple days in the hospital with steroids, her breathing became normal. The medications began to wear off after a week and she began having difficulty breathing again. We went to the pediatrician where they did x-rays and could not find anything, so more steroids. This continued for a couple weeks and it got worse. We were sent to Dr. Audie Woolley, an ENT at Children’s. At that time, the medicine was still in her system, so he checked her and could not find anything. He advised that if it happened again to come directly back to the office. So once the medications wore off again, her breathing was labored and we went back to Birmingham. Dr. Woolley did an endoscopy, found the issue and diagnosed Kaylee with a Subglottic hemangioma with stenosis, which means that a cluster of blood vessels were growing and closing off her airway. When she was 4 months old, after several months of laser treatments, we decided to undergo reconstructive airway surgery. She was in the PICU for a week after surgery to recover and remain unconscious to keep from pulling out the IVs and tubes. Nine years past the surgery, you would never know about her issues if it were not for her scar. She has no problem telling her story to those who ask. The scar is almost invisible. She hasn’t had any problems since she came home and grew up! Thank you to Children’s Hospital and Dr. Audie Woolley for all they did to help us. I have no problem referring him to those that require a wonderful ENT! He is the best!