Posted on 06/21/2012 5:58:04 PM PDT by Steelfish
Doctors Save Baby With Rare Tumor After Performing First Ever Surgery In Utero [Pic in URL] Tammy Gonzalez discovered tumor a problem affecting one in 100,000 pregnancies during ultrasound at 17 weeks
Richard Luscombe 21 June 2012
Leyna Gonzalez with surgeons Dr Ruben Quintero (far left) and Dr Eftichia Kontopoulos. Photograph: Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami When Tammy Gonzalez saw what appeared to be a giant bubble blowing from her unborn baby's mouth during an ultrasound scan, the joy of pregnancy turned to despair as doctors diagnosed a rare and potentially fatal tumour.
Now, two years later, she has revealed for the first time how her daughter was saved by a world first operation, performed using a laser beam while Leyna meaning little angel was still just a foetus in her womb.
Surgeons at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, who had waited since 2010 to formally announce news of the pioneering operation in a scientific journal before going public, today swapped high-fives with the now 20-month-old girl whose life they saved before anyone had even met her.
"They are her saviours," wept Gonzalez, 39. "She wouldn't be here without them." Gonzalez, who also has a seven-year-old son with husband Alain, 38, experienced an unremarkable pregnancy until 17 weeks gestation, when a routine ultrasound showed that the perfectly-developing foetus she had seen on a scan just a week or two earlier had suddenly taken on a heartbreaking new appearance.
Extending from the roof of her mouth was a tumour the size of a peach, which appeared on the ultrasound as if it were a giant bubble in the amniotic fluid.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
So glad this mother chose to seek help and not terminate the pregnancy. God blessed the surgeons with the knowledge and abilty to save this beautiful child’s life.
Praise be to God for His grace flowing through so many people to save this precious baby! May God bless the medical team, the hospital staff, and everyone involved with this miracle!
Other doctors go to med schools to learn astonishingly advanced life saving techniques that border on science fiction.
I bet if we could compare the professional credentials and education of these two types of doctors, the latter group would make the first group look like a group of cheap punks in every measurable standard just about every single time.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/05/BAGG9CK9F41.DTL
Apparently the actual first prenatal surgery was about 30 years ago, in 1981.
Check out Michael Clancy’s story about taking photo’s of an experimental surgery about 12 years ago on a 21-week old baby diagnosed with spina biffida (sp?). Truly remarkable and historic photo’s, and an amazing story to go with it. I saw Mr. Clancy speak earlier this year and it’s amazing and sad the lengths people go to to deny this is life, this is a human baby with feelings and awareness...
It’s so nice to read uplifting news once in a while. Thank you.
It’s just amazing what people can do. What an uplifting
sequence of events. It’s nice to see that people will
choose to let a life go on, instead of terminating life.
Here's a news report, with video also of a bit of the surgery. Amazing.
Abort the "unviable tissue masses." Leave the babies.
Amen to that! Lord, we thank you for giving the parents and doctors wisdom so this precious little baby may live!
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