Help Baby Ané spend her first Christmas at home
The battle continued for Ané's family for the remainder of 2019 with Ané spending 90 per cent of the time in hospital, not tolerating feeds and dehydrating on a regular basis.
Ané Pretorius from Weltevreden Park was born at 27 weeks on 22 November 2018, weighing only 980g. At only five days old she contracted Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC) .
NEC is the most common and serious intestinal disease among premature babies. This life-threatening disease is caused when tissue in the small or large intestine is injured or inflamed.
“On day 25 while she was fighting a very hard battle to survive and was connected to a ventilator, we found out that she needed open-heart surgery.
“Ten days after the operation the doctors confirmed that Ané also needed bowel surgery as the NEC has caused severe damage to her bowels,” said Ané’s mother, Nadine Pretorius.
According to Nadine, the operation was done but the damage was so bad that Ané was left with a semi-stoma as her bowel was in bad shape. Ané’s bowel is outside of her body where it will remain until it is healed.
In February 2019, Ané went to theatre for the third time and had a permanent stoma placed since the NEC had destroyed all of her large bowel and she would now have to live with Short Bowel Syndrome.
The battle continued for Ané’s family for the remainder of 2019 with Ané spending 90 per cent of the time in hospital, not tolerating feeds and dehydrating on a regular basis. She has spent the past two Christmases and her second birthday in hospital.
A year later the family have their backs against the wall, knowing that they have tried everything. Ané has been placed on long-term Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN). She is being fed intravenously, and takes in fluids the same way to keep her hydrated.
The family desperately need the following for Ané:
• A IV pump for the TPN – R15 000
• A IV pump for the IV fluids (Bolsol) – R15 000
• A drip stand – R1 500
• A wheelchair – R6 000
These medical bills have not been covered by the family’s medical aid:
• PDA procedure – R46 000
• Laparotomy – R9 000
• Liver biopsy – R7 400
• Physiotherapy – R124 000
For more information, or to assist, contact Nadine on 071 462 6313.
