Brevyn was born in August 2011 at 39 weeks gestation weighing 5 lbs., 10 oz.
Just 4 hours after his birth, his father and I were told he was having seizures and it was unknown why. They wanted to transfer him to a children’s hospital and had us make the decision on which hospital we wanted him to go to.
We decided that Akron Children’s would be the best hospital for him. Air Bear came to get my tiny baby within the hour.
They did an amazing job at comforting his father and I and letting us know that everything would be okay and they were going to take great care of him. That night as I was being discharged from the hospital, I walked out and my little baby was flying over my head in his very first helicopter ride.
Once he had gotten there, they determined what had caused those seizures and Brevyn hasn’t had a seizure since he was 23 hours old.
We were there for 4 days when we were told we would be going home the next day. That next day everything changed.
His nurse noticed something was not right with him and they later ran tests to discover that he had NEC (necrotizing entercolitis). NEC happens when tissue in the small or large intestine is injured or begins to die off.
At 6 days old he had emergency surgery on his little tummy to see if there was anything they could do to help him or if it was too bad to do anything.
Three hours later his surgeon, Dr. McCollum, came out and told me that it went great.
Brevyn had a colostomy bag for 2½ months and later they were able to reconnect everything. He is now a perfectly healthy 3½ year old boy.
Thank you so much to all the neonatal nurses that took care of him, Dr. McCollum, Dr. Veluchamy, Dr . Feick and now his pediatrician Dr. Knighton.
As part of our year-long anniversary celebration, well be telling the story of Akron Childrens through the eyes of past and present employees, doctors, donors, volunteers and patient families. We encourage you to share your own memories and stories about us.
