Lakens Journey With Biliary Atresia!

Hi, my name is Morgan Hanna and I am here with Patricia Gabler making this fundraiser for Baby Laken. The Dawdy family is at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Laken was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia on July 14, 2023. Biliary Atresia is a rare liver disease he was born with. The doctors don’t know why or how, and it’s completely random. Many doctors are studying him and others, trying to find out why as well.

-BAYLOR STUDIES-

They are doing 3 different studies with Baylor at the moment. There has been another family member, on the Gabler side, that was diagnosed with BA, and the specialist here are trying to see if there is any connection through DNA. If there is, this will be the first time in history that BA can be genetic.

-WEEKLY SUMMARY -

They had the nation's best ultrasound tech come in to look at his organs. She wasn’t able to find his bile ducts. That’s what connects his liver to his small intestine. They got 2 second opinions and they weren’t able to find them either. The doctors were hoping that they are just too small to see but with the technology they have, the doctors believe they never developed. Because they never developed his liver is not releasing bile and it’s damaging it.

-MONDAYS PROCEDURE (7/17/23) -

(Cholangiography) - He went under Monday morning to do an injection in his gallbladder with an ink injection to see the movement of fluid. The fluid remained in his gallbladder, which is not good. They wanted to see it move into his bile ducts and into his liver.

-BIOPSY REPORT-

The doctor said, from what they have seen from the biopsy is that Laken has Fibrosis. His liver is scared. His liver is in stage 3, with 4 being the worst. We will know more Wednesday morning (7/19/23).

He did have bile ducts but they were all scare tissue. Meaning the bile has nowhere to exit. His gallbladder and bile ducts will be removed this week Friday (7/21/23).

Another issue that they are keeping their eye on, is his spleen. It is starting to become enlarged. With blood flowing into the liver, it is going right back into the spleen causing it to swell.

-THIS WEEK (7/21/23)-

We are going to do the Kasai Surgery this week. That is a 6-8 hour long surgery and they will sew his small intestines onto his liver. Removing the damaged bile ducts and his gallbladder. This will make a portal for the bile to leave his liver. This surgery is not 100%. There are 3 ways it can go.

1. It works and he will never need a liver transplant

2. It works but doesn’t work that well. Bile is leaving but it’s also still retaining bile (backflow). If this happens he will need a transplant by age 4/5.

3. It doesn’t work at all or his liver is too damaged, and he needs a transplant before a year old.

-AFTER SURGERY-

After 10 long, long, long hours; Laken is back in the room with Chelsea & Jacob. The Surgery went well. It took longer than expected but Laken is so strong.

• RESULTS FROM SURGERY •

They spoke with the lead surgeon. Laken did great during surgery, however, his liver is badly damaged. The surgeon still believes Laken will need a liver transplant before age 1. The Kasai Procedure will just buy him some time to grow big and strong for a big surgery like that.

They will remain at TCH for at least 10 more days. Being closely monitored by the doctors and nurses. If he is recovering well from surgery, healthy and progressing; we can go home.

-FUTURE-

Laken and Chelsea will live at the hospital until he gets the transplant. He is very receptive to infection so he has to be monitored closely. His body will want/start to shut down. We pray this will never happen.

The doctors all see #3 happening. He will get the transplant around 6-9 months old. When he starts throwing up blood and can’t keep anything down anymore, they will make him the first one on the transplant list. They have to do this to make sure that all his other organs are ready and mature enough for this intensive surgery. If they do it now, he will not survive it.

We are all so proud of Laken and how strong he is. He still smiles during all of this. His strength gives everyone strength. He's still a bundle of joy, no matter how many times he has to get pricked with a needle, a shot, take medicine Etc. He’s fighting for his life and doing a great job at it! His fight is our fight!

All donations and prayers are greatly appreciated. #LakenStrong #BiliaryAtresiaWarrior #biliaryatresiafighter #keeppraying