Zaelyn

Zaelyn's medical story started when he was 6 weeks old. His midwife noticed that his birth jaundice had not cleared up and raised the alarm that something was not right.

Our general practitioner saw him immediately and requested an urgent blood test. The blood test results indicated severe liver disease, and so our hospital journey began.
It was a terrifying time. I remember that Zaelyn and his mum were rushed to Auckland by Westpac helicopter within hours of his test results, accompanied by more doctors and nurses than you could imagine.

 I was initially here at home settling our other children. I flew to Auckland to be with them shortly after. When I arrived, it was to the news that he had a confirmed diagnosis of Biliary Atresia.

We were overwhelmed by this devastating news and learning of the treatment he would have to go through. Zaelyn needed urgent surgery for a kasai procedure. It had to be done quickly. We all joined together to pray as a family when he was in the theatre with the surgeons.

We appreciated our church community and family members in Wairoa, who helped with food and care for our house and our older children while we were in Auckland for the following weeks. It was a very stressful time for everyone, both emotionally and financially. We were very much in shock.

Zaelyn's surgery was, thankfully, a success. We eventually came home and started a new journey of medical appointments and daily meds. There have been some recent complications caused by hyper portal tension and the development of varices in his oesophagus. These carry a high risk of bleeding, which naturally concerns us, especially as we live rurally. Over the last year, Zaelyn has had six banding procedures at Starship hospital to take care of these and is being closely monitored by the Starship team with regular check-ups.

As the months and years passed, we raised him as a normal boy and made sure his condition didn't affect his mindset on what he would do daily.

Zaelyn is now eight years old and doing well. He still has some pain, and his immune system is compromised, but he is old enough to now verbally tell us how he's feeling.

 When he is well, we enjoy his high energy, but we always watch carefully for warning signs that his immune system is slowing down or that he is becoming fatigued. He continues with regular checks by Starship Hospital and is likely to need ongoing treatment and surgery as he gets older.

 We were thrilled to learn about the Kids Foundation, an organization that supports families like ours. It was amazing for us all to talk to people who understood and could help in ways we had never dreamed of. Receiving help with food, events, and information on children facing the same situation took the edge off our stress and anxiety. Our son enjoys reading about other kids and seeing pictures of them, which makes him feel like he is not alone.

  With the advances in modern medicine, the future is looking better each day. We have come a long way, and having such a good support network has made things a lot easier.