Kira
Hurst
Kira's
MCADD Story
Kira
was a typical 18-month-old little girl, playing games and
singing nursery rhymes. On 21st October 2003 I woke Kira at
7am to get her ready for nursery. Kira did not seem herself
at all, so I phoned the nursery and told them she would not
be in. I stayed home from college to help my partner to look
after her.
Throughout
the day, Kira's condition worsened. I made an appointment
with her doctor for the next day and just kept giving her
Calpol for her pain and temperature. She had been diagnosed
a few days earlier with a viral infection. Later on in the
day, Kira started to vomit. She wasn't eating, so we knew
just to keep giving her fluids.
Most
of the day Kira had been quite lethargic, but around 6 pm
she seemed to brighten up a little bit and was sitting on
my knee playing games and singing nursery rhymes... all of
a sudden Kira's color drained from her face and her eyes changed
and she went very floppy. I shouted to my partner and he came
in to the front room.
We
thought Kira had died right there in my arms.
We
immediately phoned for an ambulance. They were there within
minutes, and found she was breathing and had a pulse. Kira
was rushed straight into the crash room (ER) at our local
hospital. Fluids had to be given to her through a bone in
her leg because all her veins had collapsed. She was then
admitted to the children's ward.
Kira's
blood sugar level had dropped down to 1.2. It should have
been 6.2. The consultant thought she was hypoglycemic but
said he would, however, send some of Kira's blood to a specialist
at another hospital to make sure she didn't have anything
else that might cause it, and it would take around 3 weeks
to get the results. She was sent home 2 days later.
About
one week after her crisis, my health visitor came to our home
to tell us the consultant needed to see us and that it was
urgent. We went the same day. This is when she was diagnosed
with having MCAD.
This
was a very scary moment and it still has not sunk in properly
and will probably take a while, but we are so thankful that
she has been diagnosed early and there was no permanent damage
because she was treated appropriately.
Due
to the fact she was in my arms when she went limp, and the
doctors quickly spotted the low blood sugar level and took
steps to correct it, Kira is alive and fine. We were so lucky
not to lose our little princess, and we think it should be
something every baby is tested for when they are born. If
we had known before she got sick and couldn't eat, then we
would have known what to expect and could have avoided her
crisis.
Every time Kira gets ill now we can take her straight to the
children's unit instead of having to go to the ER. This helps
a lot and we know we can phone any time day or night for advice.
I am very grateful to Dr. Levy and all the other medical staff
that worked on Kira that night.
They
saved our baby's life.
Kane
& Paula Hurst
Manchester UK
Click
here to email the Hurst Family
