My Son's Story

My son was born five and a half weeks premature in 1984 with VATER syndrome. He had an imperforate anus, a tracheal/esophageal fistula and spinal bifida occulta. He had multiple painful surgeries as an infant to correct his deformities, including the deflation of a lung to reach and repair the T/E fistula. He wore a colostomy as a preschooler. He was a stoic little child who endured more in his first weeks of life than some people ever endure.

The true extent of his surgery was an unknown to us. We were simply grateful he lived. He grew to become a fine young man who spent his boyhood climbing fences rather than going through gates. He always had trouble swallowing, and he had problems with continence which he conquered in his teens. He never complained, he just adapted and overcame the obstacles before him. When he developed an odd discharge from his rectum this fall, we feared for him. Abdominal surgeries often cause adhesions over time, constricting the bowel and the blood vessels that keep it alive.

My son decided he needed to find out, he needed to know exactly what he had as a colon, and the extent of the scarring of his esophagus from his surgery as an infant. He elected to have an EGD and a colonoscopy performed. The problem was, these were uncharted areas on him, nobody knew exactly what to expect, whether he had a normal bowel or not, which way it would turn, and whether it was ulcerated, constricted, twisted, or redundant.

On the day of the scoping, we had his blood typed and matched, and had a surgical team on standby in case he was perforated. At the least, we felt he would require adhesion removal. I was present for his endoscopy, handling his sedation, and I was prepared to scrub into surgery if necessary. We joked that I had forgotten his birthday a few days previously, but I paid his insurance deductible. Thus I was getting him a colonoscopy for his birthday. Some kids detest the black socks they get for their birthday, mine wished for them.

The EGD was performed first. He did have minimal scar tissue in the form of a ring in the midpoint of his esophagus. Not bad......We turned him and switched scopes for the colonoscopy. As the scope was advanced towards his cecum, everyone in the endo suite was shocked to find that his colon was not only totally formed and normal, but was one of the healthiest colons they had ever seen. The high fiber diet he devised for himself to assist with continence had resulted in a strong, normal bowel. There were no adhesions. The discharge was diagnosed as a case of nerves, something that occurs in most people, but which goes unnoticed as they do not closely monitor such things. Other than the ring of scar tissue in my son's throat, he awakened in Recovery to find he was............normal.

A young boy who was frequently ostracized on the schoolyard because of his lack of continence, and later because of the terrible surgical scars across his torso learned he was for all intents and purposes.......normal. There was no need for the surgical team. No need for surgery. He was......normal. What a birthday present after all!