Elijah Wick's Story

Our story of faith, hope and many miracles began in August 2005.  We had no idea how much our lives were about to be changed and how much it would test our faith in God and truly applying His Word to our lives. 

My name is Georgi Wick and my husband John, our son Tyler and I were eagerly anticipating the birth of our new baby.  John and I have been married now 15 years and waited late in our marriage to begin having children.  Being 38 years of age at the time, we knew our pregnancy was high risk.  The news we were about to receive was not a risk we had anticipated or prepared for. 

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

There was never a time in our lives we had to lean more on this scripture than now.  At 13 weeks gestation, we had an early genetics sonogram.  We went in expecting me to give blood, see our little baby and get a few pictures to share.  Our sonographer was looking at our baby for a bit and then left and said she would be back shortly.  She returned with Dr. Luis Izquierdo.  He sat down and looked at our baby and proceeded to tell us as delicately as he could our baby was suffering from LUTO.   

He told us our baby had a 1 in 10 chance to live.  The pain in my heart and body was indescribable.  We were instantly afraid our baby could die.  I asked my doctor if all hope was lost and he said no.  He told us about Dr. Ruben Quintero and the miracle of fetal surgery, but explained that there are strict guidelines that must be met in order for Dr. Quintero to consider performing the surgery. 

First we had to make sure there were no genetic syndromes (e.g. Trisomy 21, 13, 18).  If there were, then fetal surgery would not be an option.  Right then and there I chose to have a CVS (Chorionic Villus Sampling) as this is the test that is required this early in the pregnancy for genetics testing.   Within a week we received the news there were no genetic syndromes that would disqualify us for surgery and also the great news that we were having a little boy.  

Another few hurdles still remained.  Kidney function must be proved and also our son had to make it to 16 weeks gestation as surgery cannot be performed until that time.  We were so frightened because the possibility of our son dying was even more a reality as my amniotic fluid began decreasing.   

Now mid-September (16 weeks gestation) we were finally on our way to Tampa, FL.  We arrived on a Monday and had our first face to face with Dr. Quintero (Our Hero) and Mary Allen (an Angel sent from above). 

A sonogram was performed so they could get a look at our little guy and would also be performing the test to determine kidney function.  Dr. Quintero had planned to perform a cordocentesis to determine kidney function, but our son’s bladder was so large he made the decision to go ahead and do a fetal vesicocentesis to pull urine from the bladder.  190cc of urine was withdrawn from his bladder.  We couldn’t believe it… syringe after syringe kept being filled.  Our son’s bladder was bigger than he was.  On the sonogram all you could see was his little head, shoulders and the rest was a large black circle that was his bladder.  We were blessed that the first test of his urine indicated positive kidney function.  We spent the next day resting and were excited because we were continuing to move forward.  

We returned to the hospital on Wednesday to meet with Dr. Quintero and discuss surgery.  We were having another sonogram and the only people in the room were Dr. Quintero, my husband and me.  Dr. Quintero sat and looked at our son and we could tell he was thinking hard and trying to find a way to save his life.  At times he appeared exasperated.  I think we were in there for 10-15 minutes and not one word was spoken.  Dr. Quintero asked me to get up and walked us to another room and we waited as he went to get Mary Allen.  At this point I began to fall apart because I had a strong feeling he had reservations in moving forward with surgery. 

Upon his and Mary’s return, Dr. Quintero looked at us and explained how difficult our surgery would be due to many factors as he raised his hand above his head indicating the level of difficulty.  He said you don’t do surgery just to do surgery and try to be Superman.  He went through all of the risk and said we could wait another week and see what happens.  Trying my best to keep composure, I said to him that he indicated that my amniotic fluid was already decreasing so in my understanding if surgery was not performed it would still be a death sentence.  He didn’t disagree with my view and understanding. 

Through everything, John and I worked hard to keep our faith in God and try to understand why our son was afflicted with LUTO.  We prayed and cried but continued to believe that God has brought us this far and are not stopping now.  We had full faith that our son would make it, but of course there are those times you become afraid…I had many of those.  I am a person that plans things out and works hard to keep everything in control, but this was a situation where I could do absolutely nothing and had to “let go and let God”, as the saying goes.   

As we continued to talk, I looked Dr. Quintero in the eyes and told him that the Lord has brought us together and that he has been blessed with a skill that is only God given and that we believed the Lord would make a way and the way was by him performing the surgery.  We continue to talk further and he made the decision to perform the surgery.  We were so very thankful to say the least. 

The next day surgery was performed and Dr. Quintero shunted our son’s bladder and also performed the endoscopic ablation. Even before surgery was complete they could see his bladder decreasing in size.  By the next day the size of his bladder decreased even more.  The surgery was a great success.   

We returned home that weekend to begin the rest of our journey thru the pregnancy.  We continued weekly visits with our Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) doctors at Regional Obstetric Consultants and for the most part everything continued to look great. 

Thru the pregnancy it was known that our son was dealing with some kidney issues due to LUTO and would have to be addressed post birth.  On one of our weekly visits in mid-November to see our MFM doctors, the Pediatric Urologist, Dr. Michael Erhard just happened to be at their office.  My MFM doctors asked that he join us for the sonogram and take the opportunity to meet us and discuss our case.  We knew we would be spending a lot of time with him once our son was born.  I have to say this meeting was God appointed without question.  

A known risk for babies that are shunted is the shunt can come out.  If this happens it could mean having to go thru surgery all over again.  On this day, with the Pediatric Urologist in the room it was discovered that the shunt had indeed come out.  After this was discovered we had a room full of specialists checking things out.  I was starting to become a little overwhelmed at this point because I thought we were about to take a trip to have a second surgery to re-shunt.   

Unbelievably, they caught our son urinating on the sonogram.  This proved Dr. Quintero was successful in the surgery.  Dr. Erhard called himself a “simple plumber” as he put it and it looked to him like the plumbing is working and the amniotic fluid looked fine.  He didn’t see any reason to not wait and see how things go, so we continued to watch and wait each week. 

At 36 weeks, one week before my scheduled C-section, my amniotic fluid dropped to more than half of what it was the previous week and within 12 hours on February 1, 2006 our son Elijah John Wick was born.  

Elijah was taken to the NICU immediately, but the great thing is when he was delivered he came out crying and peeing.  The plumbing was still working!  YEA!!!  While in the NICU, Dr. Erhard visited with me and Elijah.  He shared with me that he had not been in the MFM doctor’s office since he was there on a personal visit with his wife.  His being there that day was one of the many miracles we experienced. 

Today we have a beautiful little miracle baby.  He is a true blessing and we are thankful that we have him in our lives.    

Elijah’s story continues today… immediately after his birth he was diagnosed with Eagle-Barrett Syndrome (aka Prune Belly Syndrome).  Prune Belly Syndrome occurs in 1 in 40,000 live births and is consists of a triad of features: (1) anterior abdominal wall: musculature is deficient or absent. (2) urinary tract anomalies (mega-ureters, large bladder) and (3) bilateral cryptorchidism (undescended testicles).

Elijah has had 2 surgeries in 2007 to descend his testes successfully.  Today he continues with bi-lateral Grade V kidney reflux, hydronephrosis, hydroureter and a diverticulum of the bladder. He takes a daily antibiotic to fight off kidney infections due to the reflux.

Much to everyone’s surprise he has yet to have the first urinary tract infection.  Due to him doing so well, no surgeries are expected for a few years.  We continue to pray he stays on this good path.

With all he has been through between fetal surgery and post birth surgeries/procedures he is very much a normal little boy.  He started walking at 11 months of age and now you can’t stop him.  He is everywhere and into everything.   

Personally, going through the fetal surgery and then Elijah being diagnosed with Prune Belly Syndrome has been the single most difficult thing we have dealt with in our life.  There are days when we still wonder why Elijah has to go through this.  We do not have that answer, but we have our son. 

As a part of our story we must share how thankful we are to our family and friends.  Their support through this difficult time was incredible and greatly appreciated.  We would not have made it without them.   

We are extremely grateful to all the medical teams we worked with, cried with and in the end smiled and laughed with. Many of them have become like family.  The God given talent that each hold in their field is astounding and they are blessing families’ everyday.  We are eternally grateful to them for saving our son’s life and being a part of his miracle.   

If your little one has been afflicted with LUTO, please know that all hope is not lost.  The miracle of fetal surgery saved our son’s life and we would encourage anyone to choose this option because the rewards outweigh the risks.   

In closing, I would like to say thank you for listening to our story and we pray that you can find hope from it.  If you need someone to talk to in dealing with LUTO, please feel free to contact us thru the Fetal Hope message board for LUTO.  We would love to talk to you. 

Hold onto hope and faith! 

God Bless You! 

Georgi, John, Tyler and Elijah Wick
Jacksonville, FL