Be a Tough Lou Lou Supporter

LouAndra Eberly was born July 15 2010. Her mother and father had a normal pregnancy with no idea the challenges that would soon lie ahead for their daughter. On the amazing day of July 15th 2010 LouAndra graced us with her presence after 15 hours of labor. She came out 5lbs 5ounces 18in long. When the nurses swept her from her mother’s arms to check her out they soon realized something was not quite right. She soon began to turn blue and having troubles to breathe so they whisked her away to the NICU at Allegiance hospital where they were soon prepping her for transport to the University of Michigan. Once there they diagnosed her with Ebstines Anomaly, TAPVR, VSD, a splenic, malrotated intestine, and mild lung disease. Within her first few days of life she experienced a collapsed lung, a cardiac arrest, an intubation tube, an NG tube and a baptism. All of that before her very first open heart surgery at 12 days old. Her first hospital stay lasted 1 month, but her parents only got to enjoy her at home for about a month before she was back in the hospital to receive surgery on her chest incision, a UTI and a severe lung issue that lead to her tracheostomy and ventilation. LouAndra was in the hospital for about 3 months then. Her parents kept her home and healthy her father worked hard so that her mother could stay home with her and give her the care that she required. Only after only 5 months of reciving her trach and vent LouAndra endured her second open heart surgery. Although that surgery took the largest toll on her small little body she was only in the hospital for 2 weeks. Finally after what seemed like a lifetime to her parents at a little over a year LouAndra was able to come off her vent so that her parents could focus making her life as normal as they could. She got a baby brother, she started to walk just a few days shy of her second birthday, and soon after potty trained. LouAndra at a small age showed a will and a love for life. Although she is behind physically she never let it stop her. LouAndra had her third open heart surgery in April 2013. She also got to take her family with her on her Make A Wish trip to Disney Land in May 2014. That last 2 years have been relatively quiet for LouAndra short of her hospital stays here and there to get assistance recovering from this illness or that issue. Over the course of the two years though her parents and doctors started to notice her skin getting bluer then normal and over time continuing to get bluer still so her parents and her doctors had started to talk about a heart transplant and getting her trach out. In order to move ahead with these steps they had to run tests first to include a cardiac MRI and a heart catheterization. These test concluded that LouAndra is much worse off than they had thought, these tests showed that only 10% of LouAndras blood flow was actually making to her lungs therefor he lung disease has progressed so badly that she is no longer a candidate for a heart transplant and her chances of surviving a double heart and lung transplant is extremely thin not to mention the cost of relocating her to one of the only four hospitals in the US that does these procedures on children. So for now her doctors are racking their brains trying to think of ways to keep this amazing girl on this earth. There solution for now is to go back onto her ventilator however that carries new risks since now her heart is not only routed differently from the last time she was on it but it is much sicker as well. There is a possibility that the ventilator could worsen her heart function, if these is the case then it is back to brainstorming. As for now her parents and her brother are praying for the ventilator to help and not hinder so she may be able to revisit the chance of a new heart. Her parents feel that a lifetime with her would not be enough but five years is nowhere near enough time to show her the amazing world that was blessed to have her. It is nowhere near enough time to spoil her the way she deserves to be spoiled. Anyone who has meet LouAndra is touched in a place only a true miracle can reach. She lights up a room with her smile and her pure joy at life.