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When Sayde was born, her proud parents thought everything was fine. However, over the next six weeks, little Sayde faced a number of issues. She had constant wind pain, constant problems feeding and sleeping, and her breathing was noisy.
After some extensive testing at her local hospital, Sayde was transferred to Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, where doctors diagnosed her with laryngomalacia. This is a condition that causes floppy tissue above the vocal cords to fall into the airway when a child inhales.
Not long after her diagnosis, Sayde’s tummy started to expand. She was sucking in air as she was feeding, but she couldn’t expel the air in her lungs.
“These first six weeks were extremely hard,” said Sarah, Sayde’s mum. “She was such an unhappy baby and she was obviously trying to tell us that something wasn’t right. She was breathing terribly and having sleep apnoea episodes as well.”
Sayde’s condition deteriorated and her second surgery was postponed several times because she caught different viruses. Sayde was working hard to breathe, sleeping nearly all day, having more apnoea episodes and going downhill. “This was one of our scariest times,” said Sarah.
Finally at 15 weeks of age, Sayde was well enough to have surgery, where doctors cut away as much as possible of the tissue causing her problems. Sayde recovered quickly and immediately looked better.
Sayde was able to return home, where she continues to have speech therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Winter is a difficult time for Sayde as her immune system is low, meaning more hospital admissions to help her cope.
Although facing some ongoing issues, Sayde is progressing well and is now crawling and is a very happy little girl.
Funds raised through Woolworths stores help researchers and clinicians find better treatments and a faster diagnosis for kids like Sayde.
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