Day 4, Heartbreak

Day 4 of my 46 day Lenten blog challenge:

Augustus, (Not his real name) 18 months of age. This little guy came to us with quite a few issues, but his main challenge (and blessing) is that he had Down’s syndrome, also known as Trisomy 21. It is the most common chromosomal abnormality in humans.

He was unfortunately born with a condition called ‘imperforate anus,’ which I have blogged about before. He underwent a series of surgeries to repair this malformation, most recently this past week. Yesterday in the middle of the night, he developed some complications and went into respiratory failure. We called a ‘code blue,’ and our team converged upon his room at 2 o’clock in the morning.

We had 3 surgeons, 2 family docs, an anesthesiologist, a nurse practitioner, a physician’s assistant, a nurse, and our IT expert working feverishly to revive this little guy. Sadly, after over 2 hours of our most desperate efforts, Augustus passed into the arms of Jesus. His mom was present as we ceased our efforts, and her heart opened up with grieving sobs when he died.

It’s so defeating when we try so hard, but lose the fight. All of us take hope in knowing that we serve a just God who has a place of honor for this little guy, but it still stings.

Let me just say a little something about Down’s syndrome. I have been honored to take care of a few people with this condition over the years. And I would like to offer this observation: They are just about the sweetest, happiest people I know. And, while they have a lot of health related challenges, I believe that the majority of families that care for these kids would say that the love and joy they share are worth any inconveniences.

It is a slippery slope our society goes down when it screens pregnant mothers with the purpose of eradicating a wonderful people group.

Photo of the day:

Let me preface this photo by saying that this is not Augustus (he was a Honduranean). I don’t know who this kid is, I found his photo on the Interweb with a random google search. Isn’t he stinking cute, though?!