Stories of Other Loss
Our Heart Angel
by Sibahan, Philadelphia, U.S.A.
Born July 8 2004, Born at 7:27 pm after hours of labor,(induced labor) 18 inches, and 7.2lbs. Little brother to Owen Thomas, 2nd son to Sibahan and Cory Sanders. So cute with big blue eyes and light brown hair. Born at St. Mary Medical Ctr of Langhorne, PA We were so happy to have the unexpected addition to our family. Owen loved to make his new brother laugh. The morning Colin turned 10 days old (8 days home) we took him to the ER for what we thought was an allergic reaction to his new formula. Colin was up most of the night before, and was not eating normally. He would only drink about a half oz at a time and had an awful reflux problem. When Colin started to have a breathing problem that morning, we took him to the ER to get checked out. Doctors ripped him from Mom's arms, and ran down the hall. They said we got him there just in time, he would probably have been dead in half hour. Colin was stablized at St. Mary of Langhorne, and taken to Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia that afternoon for further testing. Colin was put on paralitics to make him not move or respond to anything. His heart was enlarged to the full capacity of his chest upon arrival. His heart was overworking. Later it was discoverd that Colin had serious heart disease. He stayed in the paralyzed state for 2 weeks until they could decide what to do with his condition. We were told that he had hope, and then did not, it was an emotional rollercoaster we never wanted to ride. Colin underwent heart surgery on 7-30-04 to try and correct his heart problems. He had a Disfunctional Left Ventricle and had many problems with his valves, and narrowing of his arch, and of course, enlarged right side of his heart. These were the major problems. The left ventricle caused him not to be getting blood to the body. They thought he may have to have a transplant, but decided to experiment with a surgery they use to treat Hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This is when children are born with NO left ventricle. So this seemed like a good fix. Colin went home 6 weeks after being admitted, doing good. Mom and Colin went for weekly checkups back to CHOP downtown Philadelphia. Colin seemed to be doing great, when his Oxygen sats were low on day. The doctor said she was going to schedule his Heart Cath that was routine before his 2nd of the 3 stage open heart surgery he had. This was supposed to be done the week before Thanksgiving. Colin was admitted on 10-20-04 to have the Cath done first thing in the morning. He was taken in late because someone else had a cath done, and was having problems. Colin came out of surgery and was put on a blood thinner to help keep his blood moving threw the heart. They found a small clot in his heart while doing the cath. This made them open it up, and have him on blood thinners until his next surgery was done. (prob just a few weeks) 5 hours after surgery, Colin passed out in my arms as i held him before going to bed for the night. He stopped breathing and passed out. The doctors and nurses rushed him the cath lab because they feared it was his heart. Later they discoved that he was bleeding in the abdomen badly. They took him to the OR to open and stop the bleeding. They found that his artery was torn during the Cath that day. The next few hours were critical, the doctors worked frantic on him, he went threw a second trip to the ER at about 3 am that day, because he would not stop bleeding (thanks to the blood thinner) They decided to clamp off the artery that was bleeding, stopping the blood to the right leg. They said he may loose the leg later on that week. This was okay with me considering what he was already threw. They also were not able to fit all the organs in his abdomen again from the swelling (impact of the blood on the organs) of the organs and tissue. They said it was like a car accident, when you get hurt, your organs take impact. So they had a special "silo" over his bed with most of his intestines in the bag and some stomach contents. The next night, Colin had a little trouble breathing, but seemed to recover with treatment. His little body held on that entire day, and went threw surgery on Friday to put in a line for IV access. When they went in his stomach again, they found that most of his organs were dead. His bowels were about 95% dead, not enough for any human to live with, and his liver was not working, and probably would not work again. His lungs showed signs of serious problems, and we were given the choice that no parent should have to make. We were told that we could have Colin go threw sugery, and probably have only a 10% chance of living a few days, or not do anything. It was if he already made that decision for us, his blood pressure started to drop. We decided to let him go with the angels. Friday 10-22-04, we let our little boy be carried off with the angles. Mom and Dad, held him close, as we let him go. Grandpop, MeeMom, Bubbie, Poppy, and Aunt Stacy, Uncle Frank, Aunt Colleen, and Uncle Tim were all there to say goodbye. We each gave him a kiss and told him it was okay to leave. Irony was, Colins heart was strong, and kept going, even at the end. Colin was laid to rest on 10-29, at WhiteMarsh Memorial Park in Ambler, PA. He was burried in a special place for Children only under 12 months old. This was called "lullaby land". It's beautiful there, and so peaceful. Colin will be so missed by all of us, but he is and always will be our little sunshine. I know he is with the Angels in Heaven, and is happy and healthy like every little child should be. Colin was taken too soon, but We are Thankful for every second that we had with him. Make sure to always cherish each second with your children, you never know when it will end. http://colin-bryan-sanders.memory-of.com
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