6 ~ The greatest gift ~

(Featured originally on Rare Diseases SA Blog)

• November is bladder health awareness month • A bit later than that but here goes a quick peak…

Rhaadiya Munchi Seedat

As every woman waits to get over the 9 months of pregnancy, labour & cradle a new bundle of joy within her arms…

《 31 JULY 2015 》

The morning finally arrived.
A bitterly cold one with icy winds blowing. Making plans to enjoy the weekend with the newborn & family members, little did I know what awaits me ahead.

My baby boy was brought into the world with the assistance of 1 of SA’s experienced & excellent midwives who had passed on approximately 2 months ago – ( Sue ) Susan Joan King.

Calmly explaining it is his bladder we seem to find out of his body sitting ontop of his abdomen, she placed a saline gauze over it & he was admitted into hospital immediately. X-rays taken & the Dr explained his pelvic bones did not close in the womb causing the bladder to fall out, a condition known as

“BLADDER EXSTROPHY”

Within a period of 24 hours a 6 hour operation was completed. I stayed 3 agonising weeks with him in hospital, slept on a metal chair & chose to breastfeed him despite the difficulty of him being on traction..

I would bend down for feeds as he could not be moved. When the day came for his traction to be removed, all the staff came to witness & share in those joyous yet short lived moments.. For the first time since birth I was able to cuddle him!

After letting go the Dr examined & discovered his bladder was pushing out again. A second operation needed. “Not a major one.”

Outside the theatre room..
The clock ticks…
Hours are passing by..

After 8 hours he is brought out..
Dr explained the first operation was unsuccessful & had to be re-done this time in a different manner all over again. He was then put on traction a second time & would scream in pain for hours on end.

Four weeks later a discharge was issued but due to the strong medication given, his immune system became extremely low so for the next 6 weeks he battled recurrent high fevers.

《 SEPTEMBER 2017 》

Had a hernia removal operation done on both sides.

《 11 DECEMBER 2017 》

He is scheduled for another major operation which is a follow up from the previous one.

This is the brief story of my little rare warrior who is now 2 years + 4 months old – ever so vibrant, talkative & active!

My little Abdullah Seedat.

The greatest gift God blessed me with, I could not have asked for any better.. Despite the hardship undergone & more ahead to overcome. I am thankful & blessed for being chosen as his mom.

http://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions-and-treatments/conditions/bladder-exstrophy-and-epispadias

https://www.urologyhealth.org/urologic-conditions/bladder-exstrophy
Tags:
bladder exstrophy
patient
blog
awareness
son
traction

Authors Note:

This is the story of my brave rare little nephew who fills our lives with so much of love & courage. Lots of people inquire:

Is he normal?

Did he crawl?

Does he walk?

Can he talk?

A bladder problem has nothing to do with his brain. So yes he can do all of these things.

His case of Bladder Exstrophy was the second that came in at Johannesburg Academic hospital.. Recently the main Dr reported that surprisingly 3 more came in thereafter & they are wondering what could be the cause of this rare condition becoming a bit more common than expected?