WELCOME!
A WEBSITE ALL ABOUT LOGAN BERTHIAUME
Logan Riley Berthiaume 7/24/07 - 7/17/09
You can shed tears that he is gone,
Or you can smile because he lived,
You can close your eyes and pray that he will come back,
Or you can open your eyes and see all that he has left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see him
Or you can be full of the love that you shared,
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember him and only that he is gone
Or you can cherish his memory and let it live on,
You can cry and close your mind be empty and turn your
back,
Or you can do what he would want: smile, open your eyes,
love and go on.
YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY!
Thank you to Dr. Smith , A GREAT DOCTOR!
ENT @ DHMC - Lebanon, NH
Without you, this tracheostomy wouldn't have been possible.
Logan's History
Logan was born July 24, 2007. During my pregnany everything had been normal. All the test, ultrasounds and prenatal visit were always good. Immediately after Logan was born everyone knew something was wrong. He was blue and wasn't breathing on his own. The DHMC DART helicopter team flew down from Lebanon, NH and Logan was rushed up there by ambulance. Doctors soon discovered that Logan was born with a rare congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot w/ Pulmonary Artresia. This happens to 1 in 10,000 babies. Logan was then flown to Boston Children's Hospital. August 8th he went in for surgery to repair his heart. The surgery was a success and Logan has recovered from that. Unfortunately Logan was also born with rare defects of his ribs and spine. The most rare doctors have ever seen. He only has 9 ribs on each side and his spine is missing vertebrate and some are deformed. His spine cannot be operated on until he is between 1 and 2 years of age. The problem is his rib cage is very small. This has posed a problem for the growth of his lungs. His lungs are what doctors call hypoplastic - meaning; not fully formed. Since his lungs and rib cage are small and Logan is growing, his lungs are having trouble supporting his body. We looked into the possibilty of a Titanium Rib Implant procedure, but because of Logan's circumstances, that might not be possible until he is older and more developed. It could be a year or two (around the same time his spinal surgeries can be done). He was moved back to Boston October 27th. The originial plan was to do a trachestomy. When Logan got there he pulled his vent tube out. This started a downward spiral for his health and he is now recovering and getting back to being the sweet, alert little boy that he was. Doctors looked into performimg a trachestomy on Logan and decided it cannot be done. Logan's cervical spine has missing, fused and deformed vertebrate. Because of this he has no neck. There is literally no room for a trache. Doctors also looked into putting a trache through his sternum, but the risks are far too great and it would most likely prove fatal for Logan. So Logan is back at Dartmouth in Lebanon, NH.
UPDATE: After careful examination of Logan and all of his test, Dr. Smith (ENT) at DHMC, believes that a tracheostomy CAN be done. Dr. Smith believes that Boston is wrong and that the surgery is possible for Logan. The surgery date has been set for January 16th. Doctors will have a special moniter for the spinal cord that detects any stress or tension and Dr. Smith has ordered some special traches that he believes will work for Logan. We are very excited! This means Logan might finally be able to come home! He will still be on a ventilator, but he will be home. It is also a little scary too. There are risks and complications that go with this surgery and any surgery. We are doing what we think is best for Logan though. We are just keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the absolute best.