Wyatt James Koger, A Fighter from Birth: Italian Festival- Feast of St. Gabriel

Monday, August 24, 2009

Italian Festival- Feast of St. Gabriel

How true... her shirt reads... Hot Blooded Italian Girl!

This past weekend, I stayed at my parent's house with both kids. My grandparents immigrated over from Italy in 1952 to find better work. Their boat took them to Baltimore. My Dad was only three at the time. He eventually married an Irish/Polish girl (my mother) and then came my sister and I... half Italian and quarter Irish and Polish. We traveled to Italy a few times to stay with relatives, since my Dad's side stayed in Italy. My grandmother has three sisters so I have many cousins in Italy. Here are a few pictures at the festival!

Boccie Ball Tournament

Chloe getting her hand painted of the Italian flag...

1 comment:

Danielle said...: Their boat actually took them to Ellis island...; August 25, 2009 at 2:29 PM

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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.