Baby Ané in need of another operation
The Weltevreden Park infant is still in hospital, and urgently needs a complete major laparotomy, and a procedure in which a flexible feeding tube is placed through the abdominal wall and into the stomach.
Earlier this year, Nadine Pretorius, the mother of Baby Ané Pretorius appealed to the community to help her raise the R48 000 her daughter’s operation would cost.
At only five days old Ané contracted an intestinal disease called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). She was placed on a ventilator and spent three months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NNICU).
The third operation she underwent was a success but her entire large bowel had to be removed and she had a stomach bag attached to her intestine.
Ané turned one recently and has worked very hard to stay healthy. She has undergone her fourth operation to remove the stomach bag and reconnect her bowel.
She is under the constant care of a gastroenterologist in Midstream and the family is awaiting test results to be given the go-ahead for the fifth operation – a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), which is a procedure in which a flexible feeding tube is placed through the abdominal wall and into the stomach to provide a means of feeding.
Nadine said, “Our daughter has been in and out of hospital for months now. She is so sick and lost a lot of weight.”
The Weltevreden Park infant is still in hospital. She is on total parenteral nutrition (TPN), which is a method of feeding that bypasses the gastrointestinal tract as most of the nutrients the body needs are infused through a vein (intravenously). However, Ané is facing severe liver damage and urgently needs a complete major laparotomy and the PEG.
However, raising the required funds is a constant concern.
Members of the community and local business who are willing to donate towards the operation and help save the little girl’s life can contact Nadine Pretorius on 071 462 6313 or email her at nadine.radical@hotmail.com.
