Emma's Story

(Written by Emma's Mom)

A year ago this month I experienced a miracle. (Jan 08) I found out that was expecting my first child. Emotions and questions captivated my heart… I was just recently out of college, not sure what direction to take my life, and to top it off I was going to have to tackle these hurdles alone. At that point, I decided to take responsibility and made a promise to my unborn child that she would not miss out on anything being raised by a single mother.

Well D-Day finally arrived and my child, Emma Claire Cathey, was born on September 18th, 2008. She weighed a whopping 8 lbs 11 oz. Friends and family liked to make jokes about the "toddler" I was carrying and after over 12 hours of labor I would have to agree with them!

Well shortly after birth she was diagnosed with malrotation with volvulus and transferred to an NICU in Shreveport on September 19th. She under went a successful surgery to correct her initial problem and then within her first weeks there under went two other surgeries in correlation with the first. After these surgeries the doctors opted to keep her there and allow her to grow before performing a final surgery to lyce any strictures.

As word began to spread of Emma's diagnosis reassuring messages began to flood my phone and email. "This hospital is great!" "The neonatal surgeons were the best in the country!" "The NICU is updated and filled with highly qualified personnel." And over the weeks and months that Emma was there healing I got to know these people and I had come to agree with what I had heard and even sometimes even brag on how awesome the NICU staff was to other unsure NICU parents. I saw miracles occur back there behind those closed doors almost everyday. The NICU became my home away from home and the nurses, therapists, and doctors became my new friends since friends were hard to come by being over an hour and a half away from home.

On Friday November 14th, four days before her this surgery, Emma was given the wrong mixter of replacement fluid. A breakdown in procedure also caused several people toalso miss the error. Uncharacteristic symptoms began to appear immediately in my daughter. Everyone could see she was not acting herself but wrote it off as a possible infection because they are common occurrences in babies that are hospitalized over a period of time, so antibiotics were started. Within 24 hours, my daughter began seizing and had to be ventilated. By the time the fluids were taken down the damage to her heart was too severe and my little Emma Claire was not able to fight any longer. On Sunday night the doctors allowed me in to hold my only child as she had her last heartbeat. I held my baby as she took her last breath and earned her angel wings. She was within me for her first heartbeat, and in my arms for her last. No mother should have to do this… especially when it is the cause of medical error.

Medical mistakes kill nearly 100,000 people ever year, according to the Institute of Medicine. "That is equivalent to a 747 crashing every other day," says Denis Cortese, MD, president and CEO of the Mayo Clinic. This is why I must make people more aware of the dangers of medical errors. They can occur in even the best of hospitals and over half of these errors are preventable.

If possible, I would love to share Emma's story with everyone in hopes to save other children from dying and other families from suffering. If even one life could be saved... the effort would be worth every minute of it.

Please Remember E.M.M.A.~~ Every Medication Must be Accurate♥