Wright, Kelly Dickerson

[left:19721c299b]http://www.cherubs-cdh.org/Album/new/dickerson-wright-kelly.jpg[/left:19721c299b]Rick and I tried to have a baby for about 5 years. He had a son, Bobby, 3, and I had a son, Kenny, 7, when we married. Finally after we had given up, I got pregnant. This was in 1977 and I didn't have any problems during my pregnancy, so no types of test were done. On February 5, 1977 our daughter Kelly was born. My doctor came and told me that we had a girl, but there were problems and they needed my consent to operate immediately. He told me she had a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, and a cleft palate. I had never heard of a CDH before, so I asked questions about her palate. The doctors told us it was minor compared to the CDH, and if she lived, we would worry about the cleft palate later.

A thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon was called in from another hospital to do the surgery. Kelly was 3 hours old when the surgery was performed. I was taken from the delivery room on a stretcher so that I could see her before they took her to the operating room.

We called friends and family and asked them to pray for Kelly. I prayed for God to do what was best for her. I wasn't really sure what to pray for. She came through the surgery just fine, but when we were taken to NICU, we weren't prepared to see her with all those tubes in her little body or hooked up to all those machines. I remember strangers gathering in the hallway to look in at her and I heard one tell another, "Come look at this one, she's in bad shape". I believe that's the moment the shock wore off and I'll never forget hearing those words. Kelly had some close calls the first 24 hours, but when she started improving, she really did a good job of it. We visited her every day and stood beside her and rubbed her little arms and talked to her, hoping she knew we were there. When the feeding tube was removed, we had a hard time feeding her because of the cleft palate. She was able to go home 10 days later. Some of the nurses called her a little miracle. We had to isolate her from family and friends for a while and her brothers had to wear masks around her. We were told not to let her cry, if possible, because of her small lung.

The next 20 months were not easy. She had a lot of intestinal cramping from the CDH, but I think the fact that she had to sit up to take her bottle because of her palate may have kept her from having more than she did. She choked so easily I was almost afraid to feed her. When she was 20 months old her cleft palate was repaired. Due to the cleft palate, she constantly had ear infections, had tubes placed in her ears 3 times, and, at 14 years old had her last surgery to repair her ear drum that had taken a beating from all the infections. She has a slight hearing loss. She had speech therapy for four years.

Kelly is now 20 years old and works as a Dental Assistant. She hopes to begin college soon to become a Dental Hygenist. She is a beautiful young lady and we thank God for our "miracle". Thank you, CHERUBS, for what you are doing for parents. I wish you had been around 20 years ago!

Update by Kelly Dickerson Wright:



I feel so fortunate to be able to say that I can't remember anything about having CDH other than growing up with the scars. I have a large one across my chest and one from the feeding tube in my stomach, and I also have scars at the veins on my arms and ankles from IV's.

Throughout my teen years I was ashamed of my scars. My friends were always asking what happened? I would never wear a two-piece bathing suit, but as I got older and realized how lucky I am to be alive, the scars didn't matter anymore.

At the age of 22, my husband Jeff and I found out we were having a baby. We were so afraid that our baby would have a CDH. I was also worried about my being able to carry a baby. Being aware of my history, the doctors took every precaution during my pregnancy. They did special tests that showed no signs of CDH in our baby. They could not tell about a cleft palate, which I also had at birth. In fact, the cleft palate caused me many problems until I was 14 years old.

On July 10th, l999, our daughter Kaley, was born. She is a healthy and normal child and I had no problems during pregnancy or giving birth. We are so very thankful.



Written by Kelly Dickerson Wright and her mom, Dodie Dickerson (Georgia)
1997, Updated 2000