Gabe

Gabe and Mommy

We had no idea when Gabe was born that anything was wrong. He was taken to the NICU due to tachypnea. He remained at our local NICU for 3 weeks...several echos were done. They just thought it was respiratory distress syndrome. Gabe was on and off CPAP and a nasal cannula for the first three weeks. Week 3 they intubated him to "give him a rest"...he has not been extubated since.

Right after intubation they found his PPHN...we were then transferred to UAB in Birmingham to the RNICU. This is where we have remained. They started him on nitric oxide, but had no idea what the cause of the PPHN was, as multiple echos did not detect anything. About 10 days after being transferred to UAB they discovered via CT with contrast that Gabe had Scimitar Syndrome.

After months of ups and downs and trying 2 heart caths and medical management Gabe had open heart surgery on October 6th to correct the anomalous veins. On top of everything else pulmonology feels that Gabe has something separate going on in his lungs besides BPD...so we are looking at lung disease as well.

Gabe has recovered well from his surgery, much better than any expected. He is currently still on the vent, but has tolerated weaning. He came off his nitric oxide on November 7th after 122 days on. He remains on Viagra and Flolan for the PPHN. We continue to wait in hope for Gabe's complete healing!