The story of Mellissa
Allie is a 4 year old survivor of a birth defect called Congenital Diapraghmatic Hernia. This defect caused a hole in her diaphragm that allowed abdominal organs into her chest such as stomach, intestines, spleen, part of her liver. This also put pressure on her left lung and pushed her heart over to the right. She had undergone surgery to repair her diaphragm and put her abdominal organs back into place at 11 days old. She has gone through physical and speech therapy. Has a weak immune system and gets sick easily. She had a bowel obstruction caused by malrotation of her intestines which was corrected by surgery at 18 months old. She has been through many obstacles in her life. With CDH just because the hole is repaired does not mean the journey is over. It may not be a disease but it is considered rare.