Miller, Megan Renee

[left:31fcd2ee0d]http://www.cherubs-cdh.org/Album/new/millerm2.jpg[/left:31fcd2ee0d]When we were deciding on names for Megan, we were looking for names that had meaning for us. Megan means great mighty one. What a mighty little fighter she was. She gave it everything she had. And Rene means born again.

Megan was conceived in March 1999.In August we went in for the standard 20-week ultrasound which revealed the heart wrenching news that Megan had a birth defect called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. Her stomach, intestines, and a portion of her liver were up in her chest. She would have to have surgery to correct the problem. Doctors at that time gave her a 50/50 chance for survival. Babies with CDH tend to have underdeveloped lungs, making it hard for them to breathe. We had to struggle with the idea of giving her the 50% chance to live or to terminate the pregnancy. At that time we put our faith in Gods hands and decided that 50% was better than no chance. In November the doctors found a heart problem. A small Aorta valve that may cause low blood flow thoughout her body. This only complicated the fact that she had CDH.

Megan was born on December 13th 1999.We heard her cry just once before they started to put her on a ventilator, which would help her breathe on her own. What a wonderful feeling it was to hear her cry. Later that night we had Megan Baptized. We take great comfort in knowing that she was placed into Gods hands early on.

The next 2 days Megan's condition was up and down which was to be expected. On the morning of December 15th, the doctors decided to do the surgery to repair the CDH. They would have to do this surgery before they could correct her heart problem. Surgery went well and everything was back in it's proper place. After surgery Megan was not tolerating any of the ventilators very well so the doctors decided to do another type of surgery. ECMO. The surgery would give her body a chance to rest. When they started the surgery they discovered that because of her small Aorta, the rest of her veins were also small. Because of this the doctors were unable to place Megan on the ECMO machine. The doctors explained Megan was being deprived of oxygen before and after she was born with the small veins. This in all likelihood would have led to Brain damage. When we heard this news we knew it was time to let God take her into his arms. With all the problems that Megan had, it was too much for this precious little angel to take. Megan left us on December 15th in the early afternoon.

We now know that Megan is in a much better place. She is comfortable, at peace, and pain free. No parent wants to see their child struggle. It truly is a blessing that Megan has found eternal life and is in a happy place. Corinthians 13:4: Love is patient, Love is kind, Love doesn't boast, Love is not proud, Love is not rude, Love always trust, Love always hopes and Love never fails. Rest in peace our little Angel. All of us are on loan from God. We are all Gods children.


Written by Megan's parents, Dean & Libbie Miller (Colorado)
2000