It was April 16,1990, Five weeks before my baby was due however I awoke to my water being broke so I went to the hospital. I was in labor for 18 hrs and then my precious Adam was born the first thing I asked was is he ok? The nurse brought him to me for just a minute and then the Dr. told me something was wrong and he wasn't quite sure what but he would call in another Dr. whom told us that Adam was born with his bladder outside and they would be transporting him to Egleston Childrens Hospital about an hour away. I remember like it was yesterday how hard it was to let him go. He was transported by ambulance and I remember the hardest thing was leaving the hospital without the baby I had waited so long to have. His Dr., Dr. Broecker told us that his bladder was too small to operate on so after teaching me to care for him (putting saran wrap on the bladder etc.) Adam came home. At three mths old he was operated on for bladder closure and a hernia. At this time they also cut and enclosed his pelvic bones and he came home with catheters and a body cast. This was the hardest surgery he ever went through. Adam was in such pain. After about 8 weeks his cast and catheters were removed then Adam developed a pseudimonias infection and was hospitalized for about a week. He then developed a hernia on the other side and had to be operated on. At 2 yrs old they did the epispadius repair and some reconstructive surgery. At 3 yrs old the Dr. decided we would try collagen treatments to add bulk to the bladder neck to try to gain some control of the bladder he had 3 treatments which were unsuccessful. At 4 yrs old Adam underwent urodynamics testing and it was found that his bladder was like leather and would not stretch he only hold about 2 ozs. at the time. After much prayer and consideration we decided on bladder reconstruction so before Adam started school the Dr built him a new bladder using a piece of the small intestines and used the appendix from the bladder to an opening on the abdomen called a stoma. Adam catheterizes every 4 hrs during the day and every 6 hrs at night. This has worked out very well for us there is no pain in catheterizing and Adam stays completely dry. At 6 yrs old Adam developed a huge bladder stone and underwent surgery to remove it. Adam is 9 yrs old now and doing great. He is the joy of my life and I thank God for him every day. And for the Dr. whom God gave the knowledge to care for him. I truly believe that where theres a problem God makes up for it somewhere else. My Adam was just chosen for SCORE at school a classroom for intellectually gifted students we are so proud of him.

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