ALEXANDRA the Great
By Melissa McCullough Photos Yanni
O
bserving seven-year-old Alexandra (Alex) Bacon’s bright and spunky disposition, you would never guess that the road leading to today was as bumpy as it has been. After she was born Alex’s family had no idea of the emotional rollercoaster they were about to ride.
When ten weeks old, Alex was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition called Biliary Atresia, in which the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder are either absent or fail to develop normally. Bile is then trapped inside the liver, causing irreparable damage. It was a devastating diagnosis for her family.
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14 | PENINSULA
January 2020
Alex became a patient at the Royal Children’s Hospital and when three months old she underwent a Kasai Procedure, which surgically bypasses the failing bile ducts and prolongs the life of the liver. Despite the surgeon’s best efforts, Alex’s liver was damaged beyond repair and she needed a transplant to survive. Due to her extensive liver damage, Alex failed to gain weight and developed Osteopenia, a condition where the bones become soft, causing nine fractures in fourteen months.