Jessica "Nikki" was born one month early. She weighed 6lbs 9oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. At two days she started becoming juandice. I thought "no big deal this is normal." When she was two months old and still juandice I began to worry. The doctor said it was no big deal it was just "breast fed jaundice" and it would go away after I went back to work and she began using formula.
Well at four months old I got a different doctor. Dr. Kadota immediately did a blood test and realized that Nikki had something wrong with her liver. We were sent to the Children's hospital in Denver to a specialist. They did a liver biopsy on her and some other tests and told us that our precious baby had "Biliary Atresia" They opted to try a surgical procedure called a "Kasai" procedure. They removed her bile duct (which was just a cord with no opening at all) and took up a loop of her intestines to drain the bile from her liver.
Two weeks after the procedure we found out that Jessica would need a liver transplant. We waited for three more months to get the phone call telling us that a liver was available. On September 16th, 1998 my little angel got the first of three liver transplants. She almost immediately went into liver failure again. The liver was not working. She went back into surgery for an exploratory surgery on September 18th. Later that night a second liver became available and she had her second transplant on September 19. On September 21st my precious little one had yet another exploratory surgery done to have another biopsy done. The news was not good. The second transplant had failed also. After undergoing "plasma pheresis" she underwent yet a third transplant on September 23rd. The lab work started looking good. The THIRD transplant was working!!!
BUT due to the first two transplants not working and the failing of her own liver, Nikki had massive amounts of edema (retained fluids) throughout her body including her brain. On September 25th we agreed to put a drain into her tiny brain to drain off the fluid and relieve the pressure in her brain. On September 29th the doctors told us that the news was not good, it was not just fluid in Nikki's brain causing pressure but that the brain itself was swollen. They told us they could keep her alive but Jessica would need a respirator and feeding tube for the rest of her life. She would never feel pain, happiness, or sadness. She would never laugh, smile, or cry again. We had to make the choice of either keeping her that way or to let her go.
We chose to let her go and to hold her as she was leaving this earth. She died laying in her daddy's arms with my arms around both of them surrounded by love. Her 2 brothers, her sister, and all of her grandparents were with her when she died. Jessica Nicole, my little nickel pickel, will always be remembered and loved.
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