Featured Cherub of the week is Treyson Violes Stephic, is the son of Melanie and Tyson Stephic. Melanie is our CDH International Indiana Ambassador. This is what Melanie had to share about her son:
“Treyson Violes Stephic: Our Little Warrior
Treyson came into this world and blessed our hearts on August 11th, 2016 and even though he was only here for a short time he made a tremendous impact in the hearts of our family. Treyson was diagnosed with left sided CDH at 21 weeks. From the first scan of him he showed some amazing character. At our first appointments we checked to see if he had any other abnormalities as it can be common with CDH. We were fortunate that the genetic testing was negative. During the first test Treyson showed he would be a great little patient as he held still for the images for measurement and needle insertion. Treyson had multiple scans including a Fetal Echo and Fetal MRI. Images revealed that his liver bowels and spleen were all in his chest, his heart was slightly displaced, and he had a 2v cord.
Treyson qualified for in-utero surgery at John Hopkins but due to family circumstances we opted to stay in state and have his care with Riley’s Children’s hospital. I was set to delivery Treyson at 38 weeks at IU Methodist. It was the longest nerve racking drive to Indianapolis for my family wondering how this day was going to go. Needless to say it was like Treyson already knew it was his day to shine as I started to have contractions on the 3 hour drive down. During the wait Treyson gave us a little scare as he was jumping from bradycardia to tachycardia. I was rushed out for an emergency C-section but he decided to calm back down and they allowed me to continue with natural birth. Around 1 am Treyson made his way into the world in a high flying memorable fashion, the physician literally had to catch him as the team raced to finish set up so they could intubate to reduce the risk of pulmonary hypertension. My husband and I pleaded with him to not cry much as we couldn’t help but to tear up. Off to NICU he went with dad weighing in at 6lbs 2 oz and 19 ½ inches. Soon my husband returned as they were prepping Treyson for transport to Riley’s. When they brought him in so we could see him before his trip, we welcomed him to the world and assured him we would be right there. He opened his eyes looked at my husband and I with a look of I know and I’ll be ok.
As Treyson arrived to Riley’s we learned his good lung had a hole in it that was not detected earlier so a chest tube was put in place. On his second day due to his 2v cord they were having difficulty with his venous line so an arterial line was tried without success. I received the call soon after his ABGs were high and he would have to be put on ECMO which is not uncommon in CDH children, however just the thought of my son at two days having all the procedures done took a toll on myself as I wasn’t allowed to leave my bed yet and a little jealous as my husband was able to touch him and be there. I begged the physician to let me go over and I was allowed to go see him with my husband for an hour.
Treyson would have a nurse 24hrs of the day in the room monitoring his ECMO, ultra sounds of his head, and chest x-rays to watch the progress of his lung development daily. It now was a waiting game to get his lungs to open so they could do his repair. We had one hiccup with ECMO as his blood was clotting inside so the machine was replaced and he was placed on TPN and cryo. The cryo was because when he was placed on ECMO his platelets were dropping. In his fashion, Treyson would be having his surgery 7 days after birth. His sisters came down to meet their brother for the first time and off he went in for repair. It was a grueling 5 hrs. His spleen had an abnormal attachment to the chest wall so it was removed but he was doing well, a successful repair. We were told the ECMO was to be removed in one/two days, as he was doing so well, and he could return home not long after.
Unfortunately, Treyson did not come home how we necessarily wanted. Later that evening an air bubble was discovered in his ECMO line, he was clamped immediately and they did not replace because he was breathing on his own; they would just remove the line in the morning. Morning came and his sisters sang and read a book to him, but something was off, he had a twitch. Physicians said they ran an ECG and it was fine and they thought it was hiccups, had us sign the surgery papers for removal of leads and said we just were waiting on the ultrasound. Treyson coded 2 hrs later being down for 4 minutes and images showed a subdermal hematoma covering his frontal lobe with no chance of recovery. We had to pull the plug on our son. Our son died on August 21st in my arms with family by his side. He fought to the last minute till I told him that we love him and we will be okay, as I kissed him one last time. He will be in our hearts forever.”
