Wyatt James Koger, A Fighter from Birth: A Magical Night

Thursday, June 5, 2008

A Magical Night

Last night was definitely a full circle moment. After reflecting back on the night, I realize how much Wyatt has affected my life. He has changed my life completely for the better and I am so proud of him. We invited Nicole (Wyatt's surgeon), Vicki, James, and Jack over for dinner and had a wonderful time. Nicole is moving on with her career to Florida and will be leaving at the end of June. She has been with Wyatt since ECMO and has been part of every surgery of Wyatt's (except the shunt). Nicole forms a relationship with the parents and genuinely cares about your child and their parents. She visits the patients everyday, takes her time to talk to the parents, answers the millions of questions that you have no matter how silly they are, and loves your child. It's everything you want a surgeon to be since your child's life is in their hands. At a time of the unknown in the PICU, she was by our side. She is never in a hurry and always makes time for you. We wish her the very best in her next stage of life... a new job, new house, new environment. We are going to miss her. We owe it to Nicole for introducing us to Wyatt's buddy Jack and his parents Vicki and James. As Wyatt gets older, he will definitely know that Nicole has impacted our lives. Thank you!!

It was also the first time that Jack, born on August 20th with CDH at Hopkins met Wyatt. Jack is adorable and a miracle. He has grown so much from when I last saw him when Wyatt and Jack reherniated in December. Nicole introduced us to Vicki and James and their son Jack who have been a great support to us because they have "been there and done that" and who will be life-long friends. We learned a lot about CDH from Vicki and James. Jack is perfect and looking at him, you would never know all the things he has been through. CDH babies are patient, strong, and are adorable!

It was a great night and we are very lucky.

1 comment:

Jen said...: Wyatt is such an amazing little guy. I love the pics of him and Jack with Nicole. What a fun night! Thanks for keeping the blog going, I love checking up on all of Wyatt's great progress!

Jen Miller
Sofia's Mommy; June 7, 2008 at 9:34 AM

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Hurdles that I faced and achieved!

After birth, I was placed on ECMO at Johns Hopkins Hospital for 13 days. On day 13, I had a surgery to repair my hernia and was removed from ECMO, but my organs would not fit in my abdomen. I had a silo for a week and then surgery to place the organs back in the abdomen. Then, part of my intestines re-herniated into my chest cavity two months later and I had another surgery to repair that. After my first surgery, I experienced an intraventricular hemorrhage in my brain and at four months old I received a VP shunt. After I was extubated, I learned that I have right vocal cord paralysis. Then I had g-tube surgery and after I finally got to go home after 5 longs months at Johns Hopkins and Mt. Washington Hospital! Only for a few weeks, though. In mid-April my intestines reherniated again and sent me into surgery. I came home, and had a long run before my THIRD reherniation in the beginning of September on Labor Day weekend in 2008. Then I was hospitalized for twice during the winter 2009 for two respiratory infections. Well, I almost lasted a year until my next surgery! Just this past June, in 2009, I had surgery to wrap my stomach around the esophagus, a nissen. This has helped with my reflux and my hiatal hernia. I will be 2 in October, I love scooting around but refuse to stand up and walk. I am a little miracle and thank God, my doctors, my nurses, family, and friends for my strength, my fight and a happy life.