Saturday, December 24, 2005
A local foundation helped a mom and her fragile baby survive a trying time.
By MARY ELLEN PELLEGRINI
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Christmas is a time of friends, family and miracles. No one may cherish those gifts more today than Marsina Matthews.
Thanks to medical technology, the staff of St. Elizabeth Health Center's neonatal unit and the Touched by Nathan Foundation, Matthews, her fianc & eacute; and three children are celebrating Christmas together after a four-month ordeal she calls "one of the three hardest things I've ever been through."
In mid-August, 26-year-old Matthews, her fianc & eacute;, Joe Freeman, daughter D'Mari, 3, and son Christopher, 7 months, were preparing to move from Warren to Myrtle Beach, S.C.
With no close family in the area (Matthew's parents are deceased) and a new baby expected in late fall, the couple wanted to be near Freeman's parents. An apartment and job awaited the couple and they were excited about the move.
Complications
All that quickly ended when Matthews, 25 weeks into her pregnancy, found herself hospitalized Aug. 23 because of complications. A week later, her second daughter, Carralyne, was born weighing 1 pound 11 ounces.
The survival rate for infants born at 26 weeks is about 60 percent, according to Dr. Elena M. Rossi, chair of pediatrics and director of neonatalogy at St. Elizabeth's.
Knowing she needed to heal and be near her newborn, Matthews persuaded her family to move saying it would be better for Freeman and her other children to have his parents' help.
"When I first told them to go, I thought I'll be able to do this. We can talk on the phone," she said. However, soon after their departure Matthews began to doubt her decision.
Matthews, recovering from a Caesarean delivery, said she thought, "'What if I don't get to see my kids again? What if the baby dies?' I was thinking all kinds of things."
Unexpected hope
Matthews began to believe the burden might be more than she could carry since she had quit her job in anticipation of her move to South Carolina and was without health insurance. But then she found hope.
"The staff stepped in where my family didn't. They've been like a family to me," she said.
St. Elizabeth's provided her with one of its family center rooms equipped with a TV, microwave and refrigerator plus some meal tickets.
Dr. Rossi connected Matthews with the Touched by Nathan Foundation, a local nonprofit organization formed to assist families of fragile babies with financial, emotional and spiritual support.
The foundation offered Matthews a comfort basket filled with personal supplies, toiletries, bottled water, juice, phone cards, grocery store gift cards, bus passes, meal passes and airfare to visit her family in South Carolina.
"It's very trying to have lived in a hospital environment when you're so worried about your baby," said Dr. Rossi, vice president of the board of trustees and one of the founding board members of the Touched by Nathan Foundation.
Fragile condition
And there were several reasons the premature baby's condition was a concern.
Carralyne's skin was transparent.
"You could see her bones," Matthews said.
And her lungs were significantly underdeveloped, which Dr. Rossi noted are characteristics of all babies born at 26 weeks. To help her lungs develop, Carralyne was placed on a respirator for 28 days and a breathing apparatus. She was on oxygen for 97 days.
"It was really scary," said Matthews of those early days. "It got overwhelming to see the baby hooked up to machines. I wanted to cry the whole time."
While attending to Carralyne's needs, Matthews missed Thanksgiving and D'Mari's fourth birthday.
"It was very emotional for her. She was pulled between her little baby here and her family in South Carolina," said Melanie Yannitto, social worker with the women's and children's service at St. Elizabeth's.
"We were very, very fortunate to have Touched by Nathan here to help her."
Foundation
Touched by Nathan was started by the family of Nathan Charles Pavalko of Youngstown, born Nov. 3, 1997 with a rare chromosome anomaly -- three sets of chromosomes instead of two.
The infant touched many lives during his short 40 days of life. To remember Nathan, the family is "reaching out and helping other families who find themselves in similar circumstances," Dr. Rossi said.
In addition to services already listed, the foundation provides educational programs, newsletters, journals, special diapers and clothing for tiny babies, memory boxes, a support group and other assistance.
After 106 days in the neonatal unit, Carralyne weighed a healthy 8 pounds 2 ounces when she and her mom left the hospital Dec. 19 for South Carolina. She passed her hearing test, her eye exam and no longer needs oxygen.
"It's a blessing, a miracle," said Matthews who is profoundly grateful for the dedication, generosity and support of hospital and foundation members.
"I thank them and I appreciate them and I love them. Because of them we can both go home and be reunited with our family."
To learn more about the Touched by Nathan Foundation go