Mayor of the NICU Charms All
We love all babies, but Baby Mason has a special place in our hearts, having spent nearly a year in St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Born slightly prematurely, Baby Mason was transferred to St. Christopher’s at five weeks old, needing breathing support and evaluation by pulmonary specialists for a series of procedures. He was born with a cleft palate and a small jaw, which caused problems with his tongue, obstructing his airway. He needed to grow so he could better tolerate surgery, but he also had a genetic condition that did not allow food to move through his system quickly enough, which led to issues with his feeding tube. As a result, he was not growing.
Upon hearing the diagnosis, his mom, Shymira, was scared and worried. She also had a seven-year-old daughter at home who required care. “This was all new to me and very confusing: my daughter did not have any complications. It hurt to not have my new baby home with me.”
St. Christopher’s NICU team initially placed a nasogastric tube, and later, the surgery team placed a gastrostomy tube so that Mason could absorb nutrition. Once he was strong enough, he underwent a total of eight surgeries, including a maxillary and mandibular distraction and then, ultimately, a tracheostomy to help him breathe.
“The doctors and nurses were wonderful,” Shymira says. “They helped me understand everything Mason was going through and the difficulties he would face. At first, it was overwhelming. If I needed anything, I just had to ask, and they were very patient. They taught me how to change his tracheostomy tube, how to manage his feeding tube, and how to care for his needs. With all we were going through, they made it better.”
It was a long ten months going back and forth to St. Christopher’s NICU each day and finding time to take care of her young daughter, but Shymira had the support of family and hospital staff.
“Everyone at St. Chris was very respectful and helpful,” Shymira says. “I could see how much they loved Mason in the way they cared for him and talked to him. It made me feel happy that he was safe, and I was able to leave him knowing he was well cared for and not neglected. Their care took away some of the worry.”
Just after his first birthday, Mason graduated from the NICU and was discharged to a rehabilitation facility that has the expertise to care for his needs.
“The hospital was very helpful in the transition,” Shymira says. “They helped find the right facility and took us for a visit to answer any questions we may have.”
When he was admitted to St. Christopher’s, Mason weighed three pounds, nine ounces, and when he was discharged, he had grown to twenty pounds, eleven ounces. Today, Mason is growing, crawling, hitting his milestones, and charming the providers and family who care for him.
A long NICU stay can happen for complex cases like Mason’s due to the time that elapses between multiple surgeries and recoveries, and then preparing a family for a patient’s eventual discharge and coordinating care in the community. While the length of stay may be out of the ordinary, St. Christopher’s is equipped to care for children with complex or chronic conditions and provide the appropriate family support throughout the entire journey.