Wheeler-Macormic, Sherry Ann

[left:3a92babb76]http://www.cherubs-cdh.org/Album/new/macormic-sherry.jpg[/left:3a92babb76]Sherry Ann Wheeler-Macormic was born September 18, 1968. After being over due with Sherry the doctor decided to induce my labor. After her delivery I began to worry because they did not bring her to me (as they did with my other girls). They came in to tell me she was having trouble breathing. So I went to see her for myself and she was having trouble and her tummy was sunk in unlike my other two girls who’s tummies were rather big. The doctor began to tell us she had a broken diaphragm and that he would not know how serious it was until he did surgery to try and fix it. They kept Sherry in Pediatrics Intensive Care for a while, then they decided I could take her home until surgery. Doctor Parshall wanted to wait until she was 3 months old. Dr. Myan her pediatrician told me NEVER to lay her down flat, so I didn’t. The reason was because her stomach, intestines & kidneys (everything) were in her chest cavity putting a tremendous amount of pressure on her heart and both lungs. Sherry would never take more than 2 to 3 sucks off of a bottle at any one time. So, I feed her ALL the time. It was very scary. She made it to 3 months old when Dr. Parshall decided to do her first surgery (she was so small, and it was so scary to have to do this surgery). When Dr. P came to talk to us after the surgery he said her diaphragm was not broken it was tissue paper thin and twice as long as it should have been so he doubled it and stitched it on both sides. Because Sherry’s diaphragm was so long (and everything was in her chest cavity) her heart was pushed to the right side and her lungs were smashed with only 1/3 to 1/4 functioning. Due to the pressure on her heart and lungs this is why we never laid her down (we tried to defy gravity, and we did). One week after her first surgery we took her home. She still would not eat much so I fed her milk every hour.

After about 3 months I noticed she was not eating, and her tummy had sunk in again. So after a visit w/ Dr. P we went in for surgery #2, Dr. P said that one side of the diaphragm had come loose so he stitched it back up and a week later sent her home with us again, with no special instructions (except for her pediatrician who said again do not lay her flat). Her daddy, Carl, & I put her playpen at a 45-degree angle so that when I could not hold her, I could use a receiving blanket and safety pin her to the mattress, this way her body always stayed elevated. Sherry never was able to eat like my other girls. At 6 month I began to feed her rice cereal w/honey every other feeding. With a lot of persistence she was able to keep her weight up. Sherry made it another 6 months (1 yr. old) when her diaphragm came loose again. Dr. Parshall did surgery #3 this time he used some type of patch (I’m sorry I don’t remember what it was) to hold it in place long enough for it to grow stronger. After surgery #3 he told us, if it worked and held for 1 year we could feel safe that she would live a normal life and be a normal child. Well it worked. Sherry was a normal child from that day forward. She was late setting up, crawling and walking, but made up for all that the next year. By the age of two she was doing all 3. We were still very careful with her until she was about 5 years old. Then we moved her to a regular flat bed and she did fine, so we eased up on being protective and let her be a normal little girl. We tried not to scare her about her scars as she got older and asked questions. We told her she was fixed as a baby and she was okay now and not to worry about it, as she got older we would tell her more details here and there, but this is the first time I’ve set down and told her everything. (note from Sherry: thank you Mom, I love you, Sherry …… )


From Sherry:

My name is Sherry Wheeler-Macormic, I am a CDH survivor, born September 18, 1968. My mother wrote a story about the details of when I was born. My story will start from where my memory begins. The most important thing I can remember is my parents NEVER treated me differently than any of my siblings. (Actually my youngest brother was the spoiled one …) We were all special in their eyes. I just had a little tougher time in the beginning then they did.

When I was in 3rd or 4th through 12th grade people began asking me questions about my scar when they would see me change in the locker room or if I stayed with a friend, especially when I went swimming. (*EVERYONE would ask even total strangers). I never really paid much attention to this scar on my side until then. Some of their questions went something like this: Yuck what’s that on your side? Where did you get it? and usually a WHY/WHAT happened?? was the big question…. As a child you can just imagine how I attempted to answer these questions.

The more questions I got the more I asked my parents & grandparents. (But, I still never felt uneasy about my scar) They all began when you had a herniated diaphragm and not to worry it’s fixed your fine. Of course I always said "What’s that?" My mom would tell me my diaphragm was not as strong as other new babies and my insides where moved around a little when I was born. Both my lungs had A LOT of pressure on them and I could barely breath, due to all these circumstances I could hardly eat more than a couple sips at a time. She had to continuously feed me so that I wouldn’t starve. (there were no feeding tubes when I was born) Then came the biggy, she said my heart was under my right arm. (I can remember just starring at her and saying WOW) She also began to tell me the reason my scar was SO BIG…. I had to have several operations (3 by age 1) to repair my diaphragm. First was 1 month, approx. 6 months and again around my first birthday. Once I had heard the story of my beginning into this world, you can imagine how I answered all those kids in school. But, I also began to realize how lucky I was to be here to play with my friends, and be with my family. I did believe I was a bullet proof kid (like I said I was never treated differently). I was 5 years old when I began to play softball, I remember hitting my first (only) grandslam, it was so exciting…. Then we moved to the country in a little town called Coweta, my interests turned from softball to horses. I loved to barrel race and enter other events in Rodeo’s …… (If my horse had an attitude my dad never ran to the rescue he would say "Ride ‘um cowgirl" and always smiled…. Believe it or not I was daddy’s little Tom Boy). Still to this day I love to ride horses and spend time in the country.

Now I’m a 31-yr-old full of life, with two wonderful parents that words cannot express how much I love them for all the special care. I have a wonderful husband, two dogs and we are expecting our first baby. (Due on March 4, 2001) We are very excited and nervous. We were concerned about me carrying a baby due to my birth defect, but have been told by my doctor that everything should be just fine. Yes I will have a little more attention than the average pregnancy, but hey I am a special person……. I’m a Cherub. I guess the moral to my story is until I found CHERUBS (2 years ago) I never new just how serious my defect was, with their help and research I have learned that I am VERY fortunate and I know why I’m still here. I believe it is to help all of the parents of Cherubs and the Cherubs themselves to know YOU CAN live a normal life and don’t ever give up hope…. ALL Cherubs are Blessings from Heaven……

Written by Sherry and her mom, Pat Wheeler (Oklahoma)
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