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"For almost two months Marty stayed in the intensive care unit at the Medical College of Virginia. He was less than one week old when he was admitted. Being born with pneumonia, everyone thought it was because he was born as a result of a cesarean section. We thought he would be okay.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Four days after he was born, it was obvious he was in respiratory distress. Knowing his medical history of pneumonia, his doctor advised us to bring him in IMMEDIATELY. This is where his story begins.
Marty's pediatrician walked through the emergency room doors with a scared look on her face. In her hands she held two x-rays. One, when he was born with pneumonia, and the other was the x-ray taken just an hour earlier. When she held them up to the light, the most recent x-ray showed a tiny pair of lungs that were almost solid white. Giant tears streamed down my face. I knew what that meant. This was serious.
It was almost 3:30 a.m. when we arrived at MCV's pediatric ICU. They took Marty into a room to set him up and stabilize him. The waiting room was directly across the hall from his room, and we could hear him screaming. They were inserting tubes and needles and all of that icky stuff a parent hates to think about.
Mike put his arms around me while I lay my head in his lap. The hospital's reverend came in to greet us. She asked if we wanted to pray. We both said yes. As she prayed, I cried and cried to a point of being embarassed. I hardly remember what she said because I was that loud. While she prayed she put her hand on my shoulder. From that moment on there was always a part of me that knew he was going to be allright. Looking back, I realize I never even thought of the chances of him dying. All of the children in ICU faced death, and it never occured to me after that prayer that Marty just might die. Thank God for faith.
First, our little guy couldn't eat until they found out what was wrong with him. This was Sunday, and they were going to do tests on him Monday. Well, Monday came, as did the tests, and it was decided to repeat the tests the next day. After those tests, we discovered that our child had what was called an
H-type T-E (trachea-esophageal) fistula. YIKES! What a prognosis!
Basically, it meant that, at some point in his development, his trachea and esophagus had grown together. The doctors were going to have to go inside and separate the two. This explained his getting pneumonia twice within his first two weeks of birth. This also explained a few other things like contant throwing up, SEVERE gas, etc.
Just about one week after admission, Marty was preparing for surgery. (He still had not eaten yet. This child was miserable.) The day of surgery was hectic, as expected. Being that MCV is a teaching hospital, every doctor and nurse on the floor had to visit Marty. This was a bit crazy. The whole family was either calling from all over the east coast, or they were sitting in the waiting room with us. It was tense.
About 2 hours later his doctor came to see us. The operation was a success! We had to wait another couple of hours, though, before we could see him. Apparently, while he was in surgery, his vocal chords went into shock, which made him sound like he was gasping for air. They called this stridor.
Because of this and the fact that he had some difficulty breathing, they put a breathing tube down his throat. As you can imagine, even at this young age, he was adamant not to have that down his throat. So, twice he took it out of his throat, which made everything a lot worse. (For awhile, anyway)
It took another 7 weeks for him to recover because of the stridor. According to the doctors, it didn't hurt him; it just sounded so horrible! He was on so much medication too! The scariest part, at that point, was wondering if our little guy was going to ever have his voice again. We didn't hear it until Mother's day. (That is a very sweet story, and will be on this page during the Mother's day edition.)
While we waited for Marty's vocal chords to recover, our patience grew very thin. Thankfully, the operation was a success, and Marty was going to come home ALIVE, but we HAD to do things to occupy our time. We would do silly things like dress him up in Mickey Mouse outfits and decorate his feet while he was swinging in his chair. Now, Marty has a sense of humor. I wonder of any of our silliness attributed to it.
While our family was attempting to endure these struggles, it would have been impossible without all of the love and support of EVERYONE. The doctors and staff at MCV are very loving, and the other families that have their own hardships to bear make bonds that last lifetimes...even if you never see each other again. The Ronald McDonald House was another haven for us. (Please don't forget to read the following segment on this wonderful organization.) Our friends and families were incredible. Every day we received calls from people we hadn't heard from in years. It meant so much to know that they were thinking of us. We were even told that we had many, many other groups of people (out of statee too) who prayed outright for Marty's recovery. The overwhelming support from everyone touched us so deeply. I honestly believe that God brought these people to us, and we are forever grateful for that.
Now, Marty is nearing his first birthday with a big smile on his face and a hearty laugh behind it. It is impossible to tell that less than one year ago this little man was struggling with his life. Every night when I lay him down to sleep, I thank God that he brought him into our lives and KEPT him here. Something that will be but a faint dejavu for him in the years to come was the turning point for me. It made me grow up, and made me the happiest mommy on earth."
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