“it was traumatic. it was every parent’s worst nightmare. and i think one of the biggest things that i’ve learned from this is that it’s easy to live in a world where kids don’t get sick until they are sick. and then you realize that money can’t buy your way out of it. there’s no way to fix it,” said charlene on friday.
two-year-old navy is one of only three b.c. residents diagnosed with a rare disease that makes it impossible to combat certain bacterial and fungal infections. photo: lindsay at fourthwest photography
lindsay at fourthwest photograph
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sun
two-year-old navy is one of only three b.c. residents diagnosed with a rare disease that makes it impossible to combat certain bacterial and fungal infections. photo: lindsay at fourthwest photography
lindsay at fourthwest photograph
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sun
there was so much swelling in her abdomen that her lungs couldn’t expand and she required support just to breathe, said charlene.
“doctors told us the clot was one of the worst they’d ever seen.”
charlene and mike toll of langley with their two daughters, navy, 2 and hallie, 4. photo: lindsay at fourthwest photography
fourthwest photography lindsay
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fourthwest photography
once navy was stabilized in hospital, doctors recommended the family join a new program that would allow them to go home and administer her iv treatments themselves.
earlier this year, b.c. children’s launched its pediatric iv outpatient therapy (pivot) program to help kids with serious infections receive care at home.
the team educates, trains and supports caregivers in administering iv antibiotics to children in their own home.
programs like this are common for adults but rare for children.
tom mclaughlin, medical director and lead physician for the pivot program at b.c. children’s, said that without the outpatient therapy, navy would have had to spend 12 or more weeks in hospital.