Novemember 28, 1988 ~ December 1, 1988

Being a young mother of two beautiful and healthy baby girls, a 2½ and 1 year old. I never thought such a tragedy could happen to us. It always happened to someone else, was my thoughts. I had never been so wrong.

Eighteen minutes after we arrived at the hospital, Johnny Ray Ladell was born. At 8:03am., weighing in at 6 lbs. 4½ oz. His crys were music to my ears. I was only able to get a few glimpses of my son as the nurses rushed about the room. Finally, one of the nurses brought my son to me so that I could kiss him before they whisked him away. At that time we still knew nothing was wrong.

Once I was settled into recovery and my husband was by my side (He had been held up at the admitting desk and missed the delivery) I told him we had a son. We were both beaming with joy. Soon after the nurses placed me in a room and our Doctor arrived a short time later.

He told us that our son was born with a collapsed lung and they had to place a tube in the side of his chest to 're-inflate' it and that our son had also been put on a respirator until his lung was strong enough to do it on it's own. The doctor also informed us that our son would be taken to a children's hospital where he would receive the best of care.

The nurses were kind enough to take a few pictures before he was transported to the childrens hospital. Our Doctor rode with little Johnny in the ambulance as my husband followed.

Later that afternoon a woman came to my room to explain my baby's condition in more detail and to bring me a few more photos. She said not to worry, that he will soon recover and that we could take him home in a few weeks.

That evening, my husband and his mother arrived after seeing the baby and the baby's new doctor. I will never forget the look on his face when he came into my hospital room.

He sat down on the edge of my bed and told me the doctor ran numerous tests and x-rays and discovered that our son had Potter's Syndrome. Which means that our baby was born with out kidneys. A transplant was not possible because there was only a 5% chance that he would survive. He also said it was not likely that our son would make it through the night.

I was devastated. I couldn't talk, all I could do was cry. I hadn't even had the chance to hold him in my arms, to soothe his crys, to touch him... I was stuck in one hospital while my son was dying in another.

If anyone has any information on this Syndrome, please let me know so that I can add it here. Thank you.