The Mitchells

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

13 comments:

Robin Rust said...: I love to watch you delight in your children, Andrea. You are not only a gift to your family, but you are an inspiration for all moms. I love you. ~Robin; 8:32 AM
Beck said...: A: this was just what my heart needed this morning. Completely reminded me that God is constantly at work... and out to surprise us! Love you & the whole family, especially Miss E.; 8:34 AM
lindsay said...: Look at her go!!! Such a sweet video. That gal is adorable and she knows it!! ;o); 9:36 AM
The Farells said...: Go Ella!!! Drew and I cheered as we watched you take step after step! Thank you Andrea for sharing these precious moments. We are giving thanks for God's continued faithfulness to your family. Love you Ella Bella!; 2:25 PM
The Queen Family said...: Ahhh!!!! I loved that! How amazing is she!??!!; 5:56 PM
izzy said...: Way to go, sweet Ella! That is so precious! I love watching her smiling face but I think its even more precious that you can tell how much her parents absolutely adore her! Thanks for sharing!
Love,
izzy; 6:18 PM
~The Neaves Nest~ said...: Way to go Ella!!! Such a sweet video! I just smile when she smiles!! Beautiful girl:); 7:50 PM
katherine said...: love it love it love it!!
gooooo, ella!; 7:52 PM
The Mays said...: Yay Ella! LOVED seeing her smile with each step :-); 8:19 PM
susie said...: This is so cool to turn on and see you and Joe and Ella I love it . She has gotten so tall. Very pretty little girl. Love u all Susie; 9:25 PM
susie said...: what a great show. Love every minute. Ella is getting so tall. God Bless and I love u all Susie; 9:28 PM
Leah said...: Great job, Ella!!! I remember when we were praying that she would learn to sit up. How far she has come!!!; 10:11 PM
Andy and Cari said...: Andy and I watched this and just smiled. Big. Huge. Smiles.; 7:04 PM

Ella's Story

Elizabeth "Ella" Hope Mitchell was born on May 10, 2006 at 3:45pm...by 5am the following morning the whole world turned upside down. The doctors came in to inform us that while Ella had been resting in the Newborn Nursery, she began to have irregular breathing and seizures. It was touch and go for the next 3 days. We were told several times that she probably would not make it alive through the ordeal. She had contracted Group Beta Strep which had resulted in meningitis. Due to the seizures and the infection we had no idea what the long-term effects would be. After Ella spent a long and trying month in the NICU we came home to see where the effects of her illness had left us all.

A few months later, almost a year, we had an official long-term diagnosis...Ella has Cerebral Palsy. She is a happy and loving child. She struggles with physical delays, cognitive delays and all sorts of things that have come and go.

2-eye surgeries to correct lazy eye
3-EEG's to check for siezures
5-MRI/MRV/MRA to check actual brain damage
3-CT scans for brain stuff
1-G-button/feeding tube surgically put in (and then Ella removed herself)
10 (approx)-Swallow Studies
1-Scoliosis Study
2-Kidney Reflux tests
2-Upper GI tests
1-24 hr reflux test
8-hearing tests
countless UTI tests
seemingly a million developmental tests
a hand splint
bath chair
adaptive stroller/wheelchair
stander
gait trainer
AFO's

ha, not to mention all of the therapist...currently: OT 2X/week, PT 3X/week (2 land, 1 horse), ST 3X/week (2 oral motor, 1 speech), develomental 1X/week, vision 2x/month, and we are about to start ACCDAT camp.

As of 4/8/2009.