Bri Rademaker

Welcome to Briella's Caring Bridge website. Briella was born on JUNE 23rd, 2017...The little sinker wasn't pooping without rectal stimulation. On June 30, 2017..went by ambulance to the NICU of the U of M and came home on July 4th, 2017. Lots of tests completed and no definitive diagnosis, but she did poop a little on her own. Aug. 2nd, 2017..We met Dr. Donovan Hess and he completed a butt biopsy and was able to rule out something called Hirschsprung's disease. He told us that it looks like her butt hole is off centered and that over the next couple of years we need to keep tracking her BM's. We were in agreement that we wanted to give her time to grow and see if everything will align within time. Then we started developing a relationship with Dr. Sullivan/GI pediatrician at Mankato Wickersham. We talked about Bri having a spastic stomach and she is Lactose intolerant. So for the next 2 years, Bri seemed to be pooping on her own as long as she wasn't given products with milk that upset her spastic tummy. We noticed a lot of straining as we were told that she would have to give an extra push with having a bowel movement. Starting around May of 2020, Briella was almost potty trained. Then with potty training...meant straining on the toilet during bowel movements. Briella was voicing to us that her tummy hurt a lot more. A couple of visits with local dr.'s which lead us back to the U of M/Dr. Hess. After 1 discussion, he said he wanted to do a PENA procedure on her to check out automatically how things were aligning. Sept. 8th, Bri had a same day procedure at the Masonic Children's Hospital. This is when we found out that Bri's anatomy didn't align as we had hoped. Dr. Hess said he will discuss Bri's results with the surgical team on Sept. 10th. After the PENA procedure, She was given an enema in the radiology dept. This didn't go well and also showed that she had a big build up, which is a huge concern.  They called Sept. 11th and said that Bri is recommended to have a Posterior Sagittal Anorectoplasty (PSARP) surgery. We met with Dr. Hess on Sept. 16th for a Q & A session. All I have to say is..this SH** just got real. In the next few weeks, she will be scheduled for surgery and I thought this would be the best way to keep family and friends updated in one place. After surgery, she'll be having a LONG list of Dr. Visits ahead of her for the next 2 years that we will have to be traveling to the U of M for. Briella's meaning of her name is: "God is my strength."  Please give us strength during this journey.  We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement.   Thanks for visiting.