Ethan was born on March 28th, 2004 at 5:26 p.m. weiging 7lbs, 4oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. Ethan had been diagnosed with VGM at about 29 weeks. Our doctor and the hospital had never seen a patient with VGM. We did much research on the condition and decided that Beth Israel Hospital was the best place for Ethan to go for delivery and surgery. We had everything setup to fly to New York several days early and have labor induced on April 15th, 2004. Ethan decided to come a little early and was born about 3 1/2 weeks before full term. BSA Hospital in Amarillo, TX did an excellent job of stabilizing Ethan but said we would need to fly him out as soon as possible because he would not have a chance at getting any better until the procedure could be performed. We were unable to fly him to Beth Israel Hospital because Dr. Berenstein was out of the country and could not return in time to perform the procedure. Ethan was referred to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, TX where Dr. Mawad would perform the procedure. A medical flight was sent from Houston to Amarillo to pick up Ethan and take him back. Ethan remained stable on the flight but was slowly getting worse, the doctors wanted to perform the procedure as soon as possible. Ethan arrived at Texas Children's Hospital around 4:00 a.m. on March 30th where he was stabilized and moved to Methodist Hospital (next door) about 7:00 a.m. where Dr. Mawad began the procedure. Dr. Mawad said that this is the largest malformation he has seen for this condition but was still able to successfully block a large portion of the malformation using a combination of glue and coils. Ethan was unable to be fully stabilized after the surgery and passed away shortly after 2:00 p.m. on March 30th. Ethan was baptized and then unhooked from many machines where we were able to hold him for the first time. Although Ethan lived a very short life he has still meant more to us than words can ever explain. We have been very blessed to have family, friends and God help us through this very difficult situation. |
