Reitz, Dominic Joseph

On July 26th, 2000 my son Dominic was born. He was one month early and born by c-section because he was breech. During my pregnancy I had no idea that he had CDH until the doctor had done a chest x-ray because of respiratory distress. Fortunately, he was healthy inspire of the defect. One week later he had his surgery and it was determined that it was on his left side and the hole was small and his left lung was a good size. After the surgery we almost lost him because of pneumonia that had set in. He has been on the road to recovery ever since. The only set back he has had is that he has been intubated 4 times because of swollen vocal cords and trachea. He has been in the hospital for two months now and is progressing at a rapid rate of speed. He's been extubated for almost a week now with the help of steroids and respiratory meds. He's acting like almost any other 2 month old and developing his own personality. He will need physical therapy for his motor skills because of being under sedation for so long and from being in the hospital. We are hoping that he will be home soon in time for his first Halloween.


Written by Dominic's mom, Rachele Alessandrini (Illinois)
2000