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Collin
Collin Garrett was born September 19, 1997, with
Pierre Robin Syndrome. PRS involves a recessed chin, a restricted airway, a
back-placed tongue and a cleft of the soft and hard palate. These pictures are
presented by his parents, Mike and Robin, and his two sisters, Paula and Taylor.
|
 Here's
Collin's first picture with a very proud mom! At the time this picture was taken
we still had no idea that he had PRS. We were attributing his breathing
difficulties to being 31 days early, and I just thought he had an unusually
small chin. So naive! 
By the next morning we knew he had PRS and he
was being life-flighted by helicopter to a larger hospital with specialists in
this area. Here he has been intubated, hooked up to everything imaginable, and
strapped down for transport. What a difficult day!
|
| Four days later, he has slowly had one tube after another
removed. This is the first time I was able to hold him since he arrived to
pediatric intensive care.
 
Twelve days old! What a beautiful little guy! |
| After a second hospital stay for failure to thrive, we began
NG tube feeding. He did begin to gain weight, but then developed a reflux. After
nearly four months of feeding problems, Collin had a funduplication to stop the
reflux and had a G-tube put in. Life got easier after that.
 
You can see his G-tube here, along with the
drip-feed pump that he uses at night. Also, the band around his chest is a heart
and respiratory monitor. After several episodes of not breathing, the SIDS
Institute did sleep studies that determined Collin had obstructive sleep apnea.
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| Sisters Paula (8) and Taylor (4) are like two extra mothers!
 
Here's Collin at 4-1/2 months. With his great
attitude, his sisters have nicknamed him Trooper -
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