Stories of Lost Children
Michael Edison 5 mo 22 days
by Larissa Hallford, Fredericksburg, TX, U.S.A.
My son Michael had a brief visit here on earth. He had an amazing spirit as a fighter and as an angel. Michael had SCIDS (Severe Combined Immune Deficiency Syndrome). He was born without his own immune system. At 3 months old, he had one fourth of his brain removed to save his life. He had a bacterial brain lession growing in his left frontal lobe. Less than 12 hours after the surgery, he was gulping down breastmilk and smiling.
For six weeks, we hung out in the hospital while dose after dose of antibiotics fought the bugs in his brain. We did mommy & baby yoga, therapy, watched cartoons, and read books. Tests were also being performed on Michael's blood to see what disease he had. To this day, they are still analysing his blood in Italy. When Michael was four months old, he developed a bad pneumonia that put him on life support. I told God and many friends I wasn't ready to lose him. I sat by his side every day for two weeks, praying, reading him books, and visiting with his many doctors. When he finally woke up and looked at me, I said "Boy am I happy to see you!"
The only thing that would save Michael's life was a bone marrow transplant. His sister, two year old Danielle Lynn, was a perfect match. What a day it was when I had both of my children in the hospital, running from room to room. Michael breezed through the chemo with few side effects, and was a week away from his sister's immune system kicking in when the pneumonia struck again. This time his body was so stressed that it caused a pulmonary hemorrage in his lungs. Each time he bled, he would lose half his blood volume. After ten hours of heart wrenching prayer, we said our goodbyes. He died in his daddy's arms.
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