Česky
Today she is two and a half years old and she wraps her little fingers around everyone she looks at.
The little girl was born in the Prague maternity hospital U Apolináře in the 24th week of pregnancy. She weighed 590 grams and it can be said that she was born at the very limit of the time when a premature fetus is viable. But Ellinka is a sprightly little thing, and even though she is tiny, she runs around like a little black hand. Her mum Martina says fondly that she probably doesn't even have a bum, because when she's not running, she's walking, and when she's not walking, she's at least standing. And that's even when she's watching cartoons. But at first it wasn't so happy.
From the moment she was born, it was clear that Ellinka would fight with all her tiny strength. She even began to breathe on her own, even though she could only fit in the palm of her hand. Everyone knew that she and her family had a long and probably quite painful road ahead of them before she could be permanently home with her family. Daniel Blažek, head of the children's intensive care unit at the hospital in Horovice, where the baby was carefully cared for, tells how the little girl struggled.
"Despite all available care, Ellinka gradually developed a severe form of severe lung disease due to immaturity. The disability was so severe that Ella had to be put on artificial lung ventilation, breathing was very difficult for her." Doctors had to resort to very demanding regimens. "Ella had to be repeatedly intubated, or a breathing tube inserted into her lungs. Eventually, they proceeded to create a tracheostomy, a newly created airway coming directly out of the trachea at the front of the neck, the so-called nightingale," says Dr. Daniel Blažek. These are serious procedures and a burden for such a small body.
The little girl didn't give up, and her parents Martina and Pavel rejoiced in every day, even the smallest progress. "I won't say how scared we were. We literally hit rock bottom. Every ring of the phone set our hearts racing. What if the hospital called with bad news..." That's how her mother Martina describes her daughter's first months, years actually. Today her voice is joyful, she likes to laugh and is proud of her little girl. "There are angels working in the hospital in Hořovice where Ellinka was cared for. I can never thank Chief Blažek, head nurse Pavlína Hesounová and everyone else who took care of Ella enough," Martina Zemanová recalls the care of her daughter.
What advice would she give to parents who find themselves in a similar situation? "Believe, talk, ask questions and don't stop hoping. Don't read on the internet what can go wrong. And never lose hope."
Doctors and nurses faced many difficulties as the baby was born immature and had many complications in the postpartum course. "Ellie needed a constant supply of oxygen. Her nutrition was very complicated, we dealt with intolerance to certain types of nutrition, vomiting, not thriving..." Chief of Medicine Daniel Blazek describes other problems his team and Ella struggled with. "We had to insert a tube to administer nutrition directly into the stomach, Ella also underwent a number of procedures at the Clinic of Paediatric Otorhinolaryngology at the University Hospital in Motol. At the same time, Ella continued intensive rehabilitation and physiotherapy."
The little girl had a great time during the first few months of her life. But on the other hand, her fight for life was experienced by many other people who did everything possible to save her. "Ella literally became the darling of the whole ward. Gradually, within the framework of Family-centred care, i.e. care focused on the whole family, we helped to equip the home environment with all the equipment necessary for Ella to be able to stay at home at least partially. Now, after more than two years, we are permanently discharging Ella home," concludes Dr. Daniel Blažek.
The little girl still has a tracheostomy cannula in her neck, she is very tiny and will certainly have to undergo long-term medical and especially nursing care. But no one doubts that she is very clever and handles everything with an irresistible smile. "We are touched every time we look at her. She doesn't sit still for a while and we are very happy that she is managing, that she is happy and most importantly that she is alive," says Ellina's mother Martina. Her husband Pavel and all those who have cared for the little girl, and certainly little Ella herself, believe that she will be all right now.
Ella is the first child to be discharged from the children's intensive care unit. The ward provides multidisciplinary chronic intensive and resuscitation care to children of all ages who are very seriously or terminally ill. These are children with various types of diagnoses chronically affecting basic life functions, whose support is still required to varying degrees. In 2014, Hořovice Hospital became the first healthcare facility in the Czech Republic to open such a specialised ward for chronically ill paediatric patients.
