As background...

Thomas McMillan “Tommy” and his twin brother Liam arrived in our family on December 12, 2006. Tommy was born enhanced with Down’s Syndrome. Much more seriously though, within a few hours of birth it was apparent that something was wrong. He hadn’t passed any stool and he was vomiting bile. Although it was a windy day and the helicopters couldn’t fly Tommy to Children’s Hospital, a team of 6 wonderful nurses and staff drove in an ambulance from Children’s to Bellingham to transport Tommy back. Our stay at Children’s Hospital was three weeks long with another week admission a month later due to colitis. During the first few days in ICU Tommy was diagnosed with Hirschprung’s Disease. This is a disease of the large intestine where during fetal development, the ganglion cells don’t migrate all the way through the intestines to the rectum. Essentially the intestine is contracted and won’t allow anything to pass (peristalsis doesn’t occur). Tommy underwent a six hour surgery called a pull-through repair. He lost 5 inches of his colon. The surgeon saved Tommy’s life. The nurses, dietician, occupational therapist and surgical physicians were so gifted with their talents that Tommy not only survived his surgery, he is thriving!