Ongoing medical expenses due to liver transplant for Baelyn

Hi my name is Mandy and I am fundraising for Baelyn Schwab and family to help with medical expenses while they are in the citites waiting for a liver transplant. Baelyn is currently in the hospital in MN. Baelyn is 2 years old. She now has a feed tube as she wouldn't eat anything but bananas!! She is on the tranplant list as a 1A statue.

 

 

Ok I wanted to give a little update and back story on Baelyn. On Friday Baelyn broke out in what seemed to be an allergic reaction. She does have some food allergies the worst being Peanuts. So with the hives she had they speculated it was a peanut reaction. She was seen at the clinic where they gave her epinephrine and sent her to ED to be evaluated. They monitored her , gave her steroids and sent her home with an Epi pen. Fast forward to Monday night Kelsea sent me a picture of Baelyn concerned about some yellowing in her eyes. I didn’t think it looked too bad. She called the ED hoping to be able to get a call back from Dr Martinez. They told her she can’t just request a call back from the doctor…assuming it is because she wasn’t on call. She made an appointment right away Tuesday morning. Gil took her in and they did lab work, Dr seemed to think it could be a virus. The day goes on and finally after 4 hours the lab comes across Avera Chart… her liver enzymes were critically high. AST was 7040 (high end of normal is 40). ALT was >5000 (high end of normal is in the 300’s). Her direct bili 9.8 (normal is <0.4). Dr called Kelsea and told her they need to take her to Avera ED to be dispatched for transfer to U of M. She told Kelsea that they didn’t have time to mess around and that she needed to be flown out ASAP. They presented to the ED (about 2 pm) and with lots of bad communication and lack of organization she was finally in the air about 6 pm. They drew a PT/INR in the ER which was 23.1/2.1….which is a great therapeutic result if you are a patient on Coumadin.… not so much for a normal 2 year old. Kelsea was able to fly with Baelyn and me, Gil and Mema followed behind by car and arrived at about 1100. After arrival at the U of M they did an abdominal ultrasound and repeat lab work and her INR had gone up to 2.8. They got her settled in and Gil stayed the night with her. After talking with the Dr this morning this what we got for labs on morning draw:

AST 6210

ALT 5141

INR 2.8

Direct bili 5.7

Total bili 7.4

 

They have many other lab tests pending with no answers yet. They did do a nasal Adenovirus (current infection) which was negative. They are doing more Adenovirus testing to see if she has antibodies which indicates a past infection. The doctor is concerned with the INR because this indicates her liver is not producing the clotting factors necessary. The slight decrease in the liver enzymes can mean 2 things

1) the liver is less inflamed

2) or too many cells have died off and the liver isn’t producing the enzymes

 

So the bad of it…they don’t know what is causing her liver failure. The plan is to do a liver biopsy this afternoon to hopefully figure out what the cause is. They gave her FFP(fresh frozen plasma which is a blood product) and also Vitamin K to help with clotting factors so they can safely do the biopsy. The Dr has also decided to start the process for possible liver transplant. She isn’t saying that it will happen but wanted to make sure things were in the process if it would be the needed treatment. She she will be undergoing a full work up. They prefer not to do a living donor because she would only get part of a liver. Her next INR draw is 200 pm, those results will be the determining factor as to if the biopsy would be done today. Baelyn is doing good but is very hangry. She just wants a damn banana!!!! I did make sure I bought a “bunch” of bananas for her. She is in very good hands here. I believe in the power of prayer and I am requesting prayers for some answers and healing. I will try to update the best I can.