Benji’s Hirschsprungs Diagnosis

The story of Julia

It was our third day in the NICU… My husband and I went home to visit our older girls and to grab a few things for our hospital stay. When we returned, there were people swarming around Benji’s room and we weren’t sure what was happening. I was afraid of the worst. ⁣

One of the doctors explained that Benji had received all the care that they could give him and that he needed to be transported to Seattle Children’s hospital immediately. Since Benji wasn’t passing stool and was vomiting after feeds, they were concerned he might have a life-threatening intestinal obstruction. ⁣

In God‘s providence, a team from Seattle Children’s had just transported an infant to the NICU at our hospital.  They were prepared and ready to take Benji back to Children’s with them right away. That whole evening was a blur. We packed up Benji’s room at the NICU while they got him ready to transport via ambulance. ⁣

Once at Children’s, the doctors performed all sorts of tests and were able to determine that Benji’s life was not in immediate danger.  Within a few days, we had a confirmed diagnosis of Hirschsprung’s Disease. ⁣Benji‘s Swenson pull-through surgery was performed on February 25, 2019. Thankfully, the surgery went well and we were discharged after 21 days in the hospital. ⁣

During Benji’s hospital stay, I relied heavily on Psalm 61. God is so faithful to provide the encouragement that we need in the Bible! ⁣

“Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,” Psalms‬ ‭61:1-2‬