Emma’s Radiothon Story

Emma was born in Red Deer more than four months early, at 22 weeks and 6 days gestation. She weighed just 590 grams and was in a fight for her life, as her organs were severely underdeveloped. Devastatingly for her parents, Bojana and Sasa, her twin brother did not survive. Emma was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary where she spent the next five months.

She was reliant on tubes to breathe and feed. Knowing she was at risk of developing a disease called retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), Foothills staff called upon pediatric ophthalmologist Dr. Stephanie Dotchin to come over from the Alberta Children’s Hospital to monitor Emma’s eyes. Sure enough, Emma did develop ROP, putting her at risk of detached retinas and permanent vision loss.

Fortunately, because Dr. Dotchin had been keeping close tabs on Emma, she was able to intervene quickly, injecting medication into Emma’s eyes. “You have to have a very steady hand to inject a premature newborn’s eyes while the baby is awake,” says Bojana. Fortunately, Dr. Dotchin is incredibly skilled and wonderful with Emma, even singing to her to district her from the discomfort, says Bojana. “You cannot do a job like that and not truly care about these kids,” she says, adding she knows many of these caregivers don’t ever “clock out” – they take the work of planning next steps home with them every night. “Sometimes they care too much,” she says.

Following another injection, Emma’s eyesight was saved, thanks to Dr. Dotchin. Work to preserve her vision continued in the months ahead. She had a laser treatment under sedation at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, went through a period of wearing a patch on one eye to strengthen the other, and now she wears glasses to help her see. Recent tests suggest her vision is improving.

Emma also spent a week in the NICU at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, where Bojana has very fond memories of the kind and caring staff. She is especially grateful for a nurse who advocated to get Emma eating orally – something she had never been able to attempt, let alone do. This nurse was instrumental in ensuring Emma could feed orally before being discharged to Red Deer. 

Bojana and Sasa are so grateful for the relationship they have with Emma’s teams at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Considering her very scary start to life and the many challenges she has faced, the fact Emma can see is such a gift to her family.