Who's Oliver?
Oliver was born 8 weeks early, weighing just 4lbs 7oz, and unable to swallow. Two days later, he underwent surgery to correct the issue known as "esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF)", which basically means his esophagus was not attached to his stomach.
The scenario in which this repair can be done successfully for a child so small is very rare, especially on the first try.
Through what can only be described as a miracle, Oliver's surgery was successful, and the surgeons at Texas Children's were able to reattach his esophagus to his stomach in one surgery.
Oliver, Day One.
Oliver, born 8 weeks early, weighed 4 lbs 7 oz and was 17 inches long.
Ollie comes home
Oliver came home after 85 days in the level 4 NICU at TX Children's. Due to complications with his surgery, his left vocal cord was paralyzed, leaving him with the inability to drink enough milk orally to come home. He had surgery to insert a G-Tube 10 days before coming home. The doctors told us that babies who receive a G-tube face the possibility of struggling to eat by mouth, sometimes permanently.
Ollie gets his tube removed.
After eating and drinking all food orally for 3 months, Ollie got his G-Tube removed. Doctors told us that this is very rare and that babies on G-Tubes don't typically transition to oral feeding this soon, if at all. All of his doctors, including surgeons, gastrointestinal, ear nose & throat, pulmonary, and general practitioners, were astounded at his progress.
We believe that God blesses people with medical ability and guides the hands of surgeons, but we also believe that Oliver's rapid progress is nothing short of a miracle.
From a pre-mature baby who spent the first 85 days of his life in the NICU, received multiple surgeries, and fought to eat by mouth, Ollie is now a healthy, thriving toddler who loves eating almost every food imaginable. Ollie is a walking, talking, breathing miracle and a sign of the faithfulness of God.
Ollie begins his eating journey.
While he excels in the area of food and appetite, Ollie also excels in other areas. At three years of age, he knows all of his colors, the names of over 100 animals, can recite the alphabet forwards and backwards, can count into the thousands, and has a vocabulary of over 1000 words. Some say Ollie is gifted. We know he is absolutely a gift from God.
His most recent accomplishment was memorizing family cellphone numbers. He is now completely caught up in all areas and metrics that NICU babies are measured by and to look at him you would never know he spent time in the NICU. He loves to attend church, as well as clap his hands, worship, and sing. Ollie is a gift straight from God to all of us. He is a special boy and we can't wait to see all that he will accomplish in this life. We hope his story inspires you to believe for your own miracle.
