My name is Matthew my son Gabriel was born on Sept 8th
2003 3 months premature. On Sept 24th he got NEC and had to have emergency
surgery.
They came out and told us that most of his intestine was dead and they
gave him a 5% chance to live. Of course we sat by his bed 24/7 for two
days. Well he pulled through and 8 weeks later they went back in and found
only 14 cm of small intestine and 8 cm of large.
That was on Dec 1st. we are now looking into transplant surgery in
Nebraska or Pittsburg. During all this he developed ROP had a partial
detachment in the right eye which they corrected with a lens sparing
vetrectomy and two laser surgeries in the left eye.
I have done so much reading on transplant and still I don't seem to feel
like I know what to do. Is it worth putting him through this for him to
only live 5 maybe 10 years more. Or am I wrong and the surgery will work
for a life time. So many stories of parents being in and out of hospitals
for years with so many different problems. The kids seem to be in pain
most of there lives and know a hospital more than their own home.
Don't get me wrong I would do anything to help my son live a happy
life. We are planning to go down the transplant road and pray that god
will give us the guidance to make the right choices along the way.
Matthew.
