TEXAS CHILDREN'S FETAL CENTER
diagnosed
before birth,
mass on tailbone
–
Fetal sacrococcygeal teratoma
Macie has just turned one-year old, but she
actually has two birthdays to celebrate.
The first “birth” was six months into her
mother Keri"s pregnancy, when a team
of surgeons at Texas Children’s Hospital led
by Drs.
Darrell
Cass and
Oluyinka Olutoye,
partially extracted Macie from Keri’s womb
in order to remove a tumor that would have
otherwise killed her before birth. The team
of experts then placed Macie back inside the
womb – where she grew for another 10 weeks
before being born a second time via
C-section.
Although this surgery has been successfully
completed fewer than 20-times around the
world, once doctors discovered a
grapefruit-sized tumor growing on Macie’s
tailbone, they knew it was her only hope.
After finding
Texas Children's Fetal Center
on the internet and speaking with Fetal
Intervention Coordinator, Karen Moise,
Macie's family rushed to Texas Children’s
Hospital, which was over six hours away from
their Laredo home, to meet with doctors who
specialized in such conditions.
“In Macie’s instance, the tumor grew
incredibly rapidly … and it was stealing the
blood that her body needed to grow. She
would have died if nothing had been done,”
said Dr. Cass.
But doctors had to be careful not to bring
Macie completely out of the womb. Removing
the fetus from the uterus could decrease the
blood flow from the placenta or could cause
the uterus to think that the pregnancy was
over. So the surgeons worked with 80 percent
of Macie’s body outside the womb —leaving
just her head and upper body inside.
Once the surgery was complete and Macie was
free of the tumor, she then needed time to
heal in the womb, and her doctors and family
waited anxiously to see if the pregnancy
would last. Macie stayed in the womb for a
record 10-weeks following the surgery, and
was born (for the second time!) on May 7,
2008.
Macie is now perfectly healthy, and her
family has more than one reason to
celebrate.
“I watch Macie as she is crawling and
smiling and I just can't imagine life
without her,” says Keri “Chad and I
are truly thankful to God and to all of the
Texas Children’s Hospital staff for not
giving up on us, and for giving Macie a
second chance at life!”
Kids Courageous home | Texas Children's Fetal Center |
