Michael Ritter
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Michael at the PICU of CHOP in July of 1967. This photo was used in a brochure for a nursing seminar they held at CHOP in the early 1970's. The nurse Miss Catherine Stahler, R.N. was a speaker.
Michael was born April 1967, full-term and with no complications, in Reading Pennsylvania. Shortly after his birth, the doctors became concerned with his breathing. Within a few hours, he was in an ambulance on his way to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. At this time the trip was made by ambulance, and his parents were not given a lot of hope that he would even arrive in Philadelphia alive. Once in Philly, Michael was evaluated, and treatment began. Within the first day or so he was trached, put on a ventilator and given a feeding tube. At some point he also had chest tubes. My mother-in-law (Michael's mother) was not there....and did not make her first visit for almost 2 weeks. When she did finally get to go down, she was told by the doctors and nurses to guard her reaction when she first saw him, and to please not scream. Dr. John Downes was Michael's main physician, heading a team of ENTs and others who were responsible for his care. At this point in time, newborns who were still ventilator dependant after a few weeks were commonly thought to be a lost cause. The general opinion was that they would not survive, and if they did, that their lives would be of very poor quality, possibly even vegetative. Dr. Downes did not believe this, he argued, along with some of his colleagues, that these children needed a chance. They believed that Michael was a fighter, and that he could and WOULD survive. Over the course of the next 4 months Michael continued to grow and in his own way, thrive. He was eventually weaned of the ventilator, and the feeding tube. At approximately 4 months of age, he went home, with his trach.
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Michael at home with his mother
Michael's mother had very little training, and no nursing to help her with this child. She learned as she went. She also went NO WHERE. Michael did not leave home other than to go to the doctor. I should mention that Michael was the youngest of 4 kids...with an older sister and two brothers already at home. I don't know a lot of stories about life at home, but I have heard the stories of Michael having his trached changed on the dining room table...and the horror stories of the times when there would be trouble getting the fresh trach in. Probably the best story is of how Michael was finally decannulated. It seems that when Michael was about 18 months old, Mom came in after nap time (no baby monitors then) to find Michael playing with his trach....OUT! The doctors agreed at this point that he could do without the trach.
In 2001, we were back in CHOP....but this time for our daughter, 4 yr old Patricia. (you can see her story on her own
page: Click Here). While I was there, I decided to look up Dr. Downes. Sure enough he is still affiliated with CHOP, and has worked extensively over the years with trached and ventilated children. When I was able to make contact with Dr Downes, he was thrilled to learn that Michael was alive, and well. He immediately knew of whom I was speaking. It had been years since he had heard from him or his mother. We arranged for Dr. Downes to meet with us in our daughter's room. My Mother-in-Law also came for the meeting.
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Michael with Dr. John J. Downes, who was his main doctor in 1967.
The picture was taken in August of 2001 at CHOP.
Dr. Downes had some interesting information to add to the story, including a diagnosis for WHAT Michael had suffered from. It is now known as BPD ...but at that time was still basically just listed as respiratory illness. It wasn't for another year or so until the field began to use the term BPD. He filled in the stories of how he fought for Michael's chance at survival, and how Michael had been the first infant to survive long-term on the ventilator they were using.
Dr. Downes spoke of how he could see in Michael's eyes that he was "THERE" and was fighting with everything he had. He confirmed the names of some of the other doctors involved, including Dr. Sylvan Stool, who now works in Colorado. Doctor Downes explained how many were sure
that, at the time, these newborns had no chance at "normal" life. It was thrilling for him to see Michael, as an adult. Also, as a husband and father! Michael is also an upper level executive at his place of employment. I jokingly refer to him as my amazing "vegetable".
Our daughter's medical issues are completely unrelated to what her father experienced, and yet she has had multiple surgeries, trached and chest tubes.....and benefited in her own way from the things that were used to save her father 34 years earlier. We have also had many fun encounters, as nurses and others have learned of Michael's connection to not only CHOP, but also the ENT
Department.
The only long-term effect that Michael has from his ordeal is, of course the scars, and limited use of his knees. To assist with his growth, he was given steroid injections to his thighs, and the side effect was the loss of some of the elastic nature of the muscles. It is not a handicap, nor has it kept him from doing anything.
The most amazing thing to me, is to have such first hand knowledge of how far the medical field has come in 30 years.
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