Find Kardus

Primary Childrens Hospital

At the end of December, Kason and I prayed really hard as to whether or not he should quit his job with Washington City. They had amazing benefits, but he didnt enjoy it. We decided since all Wrekkers birth bills were paid and through the insurance system, we would be fine to just use my insurance for the next little while. Kason quit and began working for Warren Energy hauling gas. He really enjoyed it, it was really hard to have him gone so much though. I was back to work and I felt like I couldnt handle him being gone so many nights in a row. During this time, we had been monitoring this "birthmark" on Wrekkers face. Originally our doctors had told us it was just a popped blood vessel from labor, but it continued to grow. It really started to worry us when his eye looked as if it were swollen and started to turn black and blue. We took him to Dr. Kaddu, his pediatrician and he told us he wanted a second opinion. So we went and saw Dr. Ben Carter a dermatologist in St. George. He was very worried about Wrekker and insisted we take him to Primary Childrens Hospital in SLC immediately. Kason was working in SLC and I was startled by his urgency. He said he would send some pictures of Wrekker to his colleagues in Wisconsin and get their opinion on the matter. Dr. Carter studied medicine in Wisconsin and that is where they discovered the treatment and concerns that can be accompanied with a hemangioma, or a collection of millions of twisted blood vessels, found on the face. Dr. Carter called me that night and told me he couldn’t stop thinking about Wrekker. The next morning I was teaching school, and received a phone call from Primary Children’s Hospital. They told me they had also received pictures of Wrekker and they needed to see him immediately that day. I told them they must be confused because we live in St. George, they said they were aware and that would mean I need to leave RIGHT THEN. I called my mom because Wrekker was in Mesquite with her, and her and my dad rushed right up and we all drove Wrekker to SLC. Kason was already there waiting for us and I didn’t want to drive with a two month old baby, by myself. We picked up Kason and met with Dr. Vanderhoft, our specialist, she was very kind, and also very calm. She told us that Wrekker would be fine, we just needed to keep monitoring his situation. This was frustrating for Kason and I. Ten hours ago, we felt like our child was in a life threatening danger, and now we were being dismissed after a quick five minute observation. She gave us a topical ointment and told us to return in a month. Her major concern was that his eye could not swell completely shut, or he would lose all vision permanently. We monitored him very closely and returned about a week later because his eye was getting significantly worse. She sent us to the ophthalmologist to have his vision checked. Dr. Dries, felt that Wrekker’s eye was being put out of focus, because the pressure form the hemangioma, which is basically a tumor of blood vessels, was so strongly pushing against his eye ball. Dr. Vanderhoft immediately decided to take action and Wrekker underwent EKG’s and other tests to make sure that his two month old body could handle the very special and potent medicine, it needed to reduce the tumor behind his eye and cheek. The medicine was called propranolol and it was discovered only a few years ago by the Professor that taught Dr. Carter, in Wisconsin. This kind of brought us back full circle into wondering if he was right about his urgency and if we should be more concerned by PCH relaxed approach. Dr. Vanderhoft, was more concerned that this small newborn shouldn’t be placed on such a potent medicine, which I believe now, was her reasoning for moving slower with a solution. The medicine was very hard on Wrekker’s little body. We started with the smallest of doses and it needed to be administered every eight hours. It also was very important that he ate every three hours or he could have a seizure, due to the potency of the medicine on his little body. This meant no sleep for mom or dad. Wrekker did really well even though the first two days he slept about 21/24 hours. The hospital here in St. George agreed to monitor his vitals once a week to prevent us from having to make an extra trip to PCH each week. Wrekker is such a fighter a tough boy. We feel really good about our care here and know that he is in the best hands. It is overwhelming to be surrounded by so many children who are fighting a way harder battle than we could ever imagine. It has been a very humbling experience to be surrounded by such a strong presence of our Heavenly Father and the love he has for his children.

download now