Laci's Story (Gundagai)

When two year old Laci first complained of feeling sick, her mum Sarah thought she had simply caught a 24 hour virus. Two days later however, Laci was sick again suffering from a sore stomach and vomiting. She was rushed to the local GP in Gundagai by her concerned parents.

Laci’s condition deteriorated and Sarah took her to the local hospital. Within hours they were transferred to the larger regional hospital in Wagga Wagga. After four days in hospital with no improvement, Laci was transferred to Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, to receive specialist care and investigation into her illness.

Tests revealed that Laci had been suffering from a choledochal cyst. A cyst of her bile duct had burst and was leaking into Laci’s abdomen, making her extremely sick. Laci was bedridden, unable to eat or drink, and suffering from abdominal swelling and pains which were making it very difficult for her to sleep. The leaking bile was slowly poisoning Laci, and an emergency operation was performed to drain the bile.

Initially Laci improved, however after two weeks she started to deteriorate again and underwent a second emergency operation to drain more bile.

Laci’s family was in stress and turmoil - their beloved little girl was so weak and she was going to have to stay in hospital over the Christmas season. Fortunately Laci’s parents and older brother and sister were able to spend Christmas Day with Laci in the Hospital, and had a great time when The Wiggles made a surprise visit.

Once she had recuperated, Laci had her third and final operation to remove the cyst and gall bladder, and her bile duct was reconstructed. Laci was now able to process food normally again.

“Although the whole ordeal was very trying, the staff at Sydney Children’s Hospital were so good, everyone was absolutely lovely. They did everything they could to help Laci cope with what was happening to her,” said Sarah.

After the successful surgery and two and a half months spent in hospital, Laci finally returned home to Gundagai and is back to being her happy, boisterous self. Laci will visit Sydney Children’s Hospital every six months for check ups, to make sure her digestive system is working properly..