Hirschsprungs Family Connections

Our son Thomas was diagnosed with Hirschsprung's Disease when he was a week old. I had a completely normal pregnancy and birth and even went home from hospital the same day, as we were both doing so well. But our first night at home was not what we were expecting.  Thomas struggled to feed and was sick a lot. This continued into the next morning with his sick becoming a green colour and he was yet to do his first poo. 

 

We returned to the hospital and he was admitted to the neonatal ward straight away. After a blockage in his bowel was cleared, he was like a different baby, feeding and pooing like a trooper! No one was more surprised than us, when a week later, test results showed he had Hirschsprung's Disease. 

 

We were allowed home for the next two months but had to be on alert for signs of infection and Thomas needed a daily bowel washout. We were taught how to do this ourselves at home, but it was still a daunting task to face each day, particularly on days when Thomas got upset. 

 

When Thomas was 10 weeks old, the day of his pull through operation arrived. The surgery took all day and nearly half of Thomas' large bowel was successfully removed. Despite the enormity of the operation, it was truly amazing to see how quickly he recovered and a week later we were back home.

 

Nearly nine months on and Thomas is doing so well. He has his off days where his tummy must hurt and we have had some bad bouts of nappy rash and teething, as well as a course of antibiotics to help reset the balance of bacteria in his tummy, but that has been the worst of it so far. He absolutely loves his food and is turning into such a little character with the help of his two year old brother Jacob!

 

I'm sure there are more challenges ahead of us, but as Thomas approaches the milestone of his first birthday, we could not be prouder of him - he really is our little super hero.