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After two years in the hospital, Bella was finally able to go home. However, her medical treatment did not stop there. From her first admission at three days old to when she turned six, Bella has had 20 surgeries and counting. Hirschsprung’s disease caused a portion of Bella’s intestines to stop functioning, and she needed to undergo many surgeries because of this. These surgeries required Bella to have many broviaks placed, which is a line that is placed directly into a large vein leading into the heart.
Bella and her family in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.
In July of 2020, SickKids Hospital in Toronto took over Bella’s care and she travelled from Saskatchewan to Toronto. The medical team at SickKids determined that Bella needed a bowel transplant to survive, and she was listed for transplant on August 27th, 2020. All the broviaks she had placed led to scarring on her veins and the doctors also told Kyla and Lyle that Bella’s current CVC site (where the lines are placed) needs to last until the bowel transplant happens. It is now a race against time while they wait for the call and hope that her CVC site remains intact. When the family went to SickKids, their social worker introduced them to the David Foster Foundation. Due to Bella’s complex medical needs, the family has a lot of additional expenses involved with attending appointments at home in Saskatchewan, at Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, AB, and at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, ON. In addition to these transplant expenses, Kyla has given up her full-time teaching career to care for Bella. The Foundation has been able to assist the family with the costs of attending these appointments, so they do not strain the family.
Above: Bella and Kyla at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. Below: Bella and Kyla visit David Foster and his wife, Katharine McPhee, in Toronto ON at the Foundation's 'A Night On Broadway' fundraising event.
Waiting for a transplant has greatly impacted the family. “It has affected our ability to plan for our family and be able to enjoy life without this heavy weight in the back of our minds. Everything is harder to handle as it has to revolve around the possibility of receiving the call at any moment. Emotionally Bella is very excited to receive her new bowels. She knows very well how it will change her life for the better. So, she is very positive about it and looks forward to the bowel transplant. For myself and my husband Lyle, we feel like we are in a constant state of ‘what if.’ And the mental toll that takes on us is something we battle every day,” Kyla reveals.
In addition to transplant expenses, Kyla has given up her full-time teaching career to care for Bella. The Foundation has been able to assist the family with the costs of attending appointments, so they do not strain the family.
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Summer 2022
