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Letter to the editor

Kids beat odds

By NICOLE BARDO-COLON
Published June 6, 2007

The unofficial theme Sunday was "beating the odds, " and these little fighters and their families can tell you all about it. Graduates of All Children's Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and a host of grateful family members and medical personnel gathered in the kids' area at A Taste of Pinellas over the weekend to celebrate the children's difficult but successful journeys through pain and fear.

"The parents are bonded, " said Dr. Stacey Stone, a neonatologist at the hospital, from "months of standing over their children's bedsides."

Deb Locicero and Betsy Vaught are co-chairs of the committee for the Neonatal Intensive Care Reunion. They said the staff and the families benefit when the kids return.

"It's such a joy to see them come back, " Vaught said. "They develop relationships with their docs and nurses. It's very meaningful in their lives."

The festivities included laughter, games, storytelling - the normal things kids like to do. Also, a diaper derby, food and plenty of tales of success.

Locicero, as well as some of the other staff at the hospital, had another reason to celebrate. Her son Ryan, 25, and her daughter Audra, 16, are both graduates of the NICU. They came back to volunteer for the event.

For this group, normal lives once seemed a lot to ask for.

After 6 early surgeries, Kyle nears fourth grade

Kyle Cartier, now 10, was born weighing 1 pound, 4 ounces on July 24, 1996. He had six surgeries by the time he was 8 months old. His lungs were underdeveloped, so he lost most of his sight due to lack of oxygen.

His mother said that early intervention was key.

"He is blind in one eye and low in the other, " Catherine Cartier said. Kyle could not walk until he was 2 1/2 and could not talk till he was 3 1/2. Now he is about to enter the fourth grade.

"I'm lucky, " Cartier said. "He's a miracle."

She also credited the Lighthouse of Pinellas in Largo, an organization for the visually impaired, for helping make him successful and on his way to independence.

Once a preemie, Willie runs with best of them

Monica Lee was all smiles at the reunion Sunday. She has eight children but her youngest, Willie, barely survived. Like several other kids at the reunion, he was a preemie, born weighing 1 pound, 6 ounces

Today, the 3-year-old is running around everywhere. Lee said he still can't speak but she is grateful for the help she received from All Children's.

"It was good." Lee said. "He was real sick." Willie had to make two more trips to the hospital after he was released the first time.

"I'm very happy. They took real good care of him, " Lee said.

Michael overcomes his roller-coaster start

Michael "Mickey" Rodriquez was not supposed to walk. Doctors said because of the bleeding in his brain he might end up in a vegetative state. His father said he had everything except heart problems when he was born at 23 weeks weighing 1 pound, 3 ounces.

"He was a roller coaster, " Charlie Rodriguez said. "Two weeks after he was born, there was no blood in his brain."

But at 4 years old he is walking independently and speaking both English and Spanish.

"I told the doctors, 'Don't worry. He'll be fine.' "

Twins' asthma, loss of hearing in the past

Twins JaiShawn and JaiSha were born at 26 weeks and had a myriad of problems, but you wouldn't know it looking at them.

Born at a little over a pound each, their problems included acid reflux, asthma and hearing loss. Baby formula was getting into their lungs, and they required laser eye surgery.

Now 3 1/2, the twins spent much of the day running around and playing with their cousin. Delores Stewart, aunt and guardian of the twins, said they still have speech problems but are in therapy and doing well.

She said JaiSha is like a mother to her brother and cousin, but as twins they still team up against her.

Sometimes they talk back, she said, but she's happy to hear them speak.

"I thought it was going to be a long time before I could have a conversation with my niece and nephew, " Stewart said.

Nicole Bardo-Colon can be reached at 893-8779 or nbardo-colon@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 5, 2007, 22:37:53]