Join us this week on the CDH radio show as we talk with Rene Couret. She shares her family’s journey with CDH after her son, Gregory Zion Couret, is diagnosed with CDH.
Tune in at 6:00 pm EST, August 3rd, 2021 at https://www.blogtalkradio.com/cdh/2021/08/03/august-3-2021-guest-rene-couret. August 3, 2021, would have been Gregory’s 17th Birthday.
Listen to archives of the show at http://www.cdhradio.org.
Rene has 3 beautiful children. She has two daughters who reside earth side. She has one son born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, who resides in heaven with the angels. Rene’s son, Gregory Zion Couret, was born August 3, 2004, with a Morgagni (or right-sided) Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. When Gregory died at six months of age, it was a bittersweet experience. Rene felt it was her greatest source of pain, but he was also her greatest source of inspiration.
Two years after Gregory passed away from CDH complications Rene shares on our CDH forums, “when Gregory was born, he was rushed right away to the NICU. He had a right-sided hernia, which causes more trouble due to the liver piercing into the right lung and pushing over the heart. Gregory was only breathing about 30% on his own and he needed the assistance of a Ventilator in order to keep him alive. He was placed on ECMO for one week and had emergency surgery to fix his diaphragm after a small brain bleed. He had six surgeries and was taken off and on breathing support more than ten times.”
Rene went on to share with us, “in the end his lungs just could not handle anymore, and his heart gave up on him. My son was supposed to come home right around Thanksgiving in 2004, but he got an infection and had to heal all over again. My family and I prayed hard, stayed up nights visiting him, and had as much faith as we possibly could. He went through ups and downs and fought his best, but by the time he was six months old he passed away.”
“After my Gregory passed away, I felt as if something was wrong with me, and I thought I did something wrong. Maybe I could have done more, or maybe it was karma sneaking up to bite me. I went through many ups and downs in my mind before I could just accept what happened and move on. It is still a process and two years later I have days when the thoughts cripple me and there are times where I feel that it never even happened,” Rene shared.
Tune in to the radio show Tuesday night. Hear more about Gregory and the inspiration he has been to his mom the past 17 years. Rene shared with us, “I see very spiritually; he was my angel. Still to this day, he’s with me. He shows me signs of that whenever I need one and sometimes playfully, like his personality I can feel it.”
If you would like to share your child’s story, please visit https://cdhi.org/shareyourstory/ for more information.
