Mom, Rena Sickles Celebrates Son, Titus’ 1st Birthday By ‘Sending’ This Touching Message To His Donor Family| Photos
When Rena Sickles was 18 weeks pregnant, she went to her doctor for a routine scan and received some news she wasn’t expecting to hear. Doctors had discovered that her baby boy had a congenital heart defect, which would leave him with only half a working heart, as well as a large hole in its middle wall.
This left her crestfallen, but not without hope.
When baby Titus was eventually born on January 8, 2018; he was taken straight to the NICU, where he underwent round-the-clock monitoring and testing. Though he was released by the hospital at just 8-days old, he wasn’t out of the woods, and Rena says her family was sent home with a list of signs to look out for.
Speaking to Cafemom, Rena said:
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“We never knew until much later that this list of signs were signs of worsening heart failure. It turned out he was in heart failure and not eligible for surgery so we brought him home … and basically just waited for him to get worse, without knowing it.”
Determined to do everything within their power, The Sickles took Baby Titus to Seattle, where they had been told he might have a shot at a transplant. Rena packed up her family of 6 and temporarily relocated from Toledo, Washington; so Titus could get care at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Once there, she held on to the hope that her little boy’s health would hold steady — and that a donor heart would arrive, once he could be listed.
She continued:
“After seven long days of tests, blood work, training, signing paperwork, and going through an extensive amount of ‘what to expect’ and training, he was finally listed the day he turned 2 months old! When Titus was 3 months old, our miracle finally arrived.”
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Rena recalls:
“The cardiologist walked in and said, ‘We just accepted an offer on a heart,’ and that’s when I had to grab onto the side of his crib because I felt so dizzy. My husband and I were both overwhelmed by emotion.”
Titus’s surgery was a success — but his recovery time would prove even more incredible.
“Just two days out, our amazing occupational therapist encouraged me to try to breastfeed and he actually did as if he always knew how. One doctor said she’s been doing this job for 30 years and had never seen a baby breastfeed post transplant.”
“I’ve really suffered since the surgery with processing the fairness of life and what the other family had to go through in order for my baby to live. I guess there is a lot of survivor guilt as well as PTSD after watching my own son nearly pass away.”
Still, she says before the photo shoot she kept having a dream about sharing a photo of Titus holding a hand-written sign to his donor family. Once she broached the idea with her photographer, Sarah Masten of Little Hearts photography, Sarah had a better idea.
“I knew there was a chance the donor family wouldn’t be ready to hear from us because the wound is still very fresh. But I thought it may be slightly healing to anyone who loved that child to see the beauty and miracle that came from their great loss.”
“Until I had Titus, I never knew there were so many young children waiting for a donor organ. Whether or not Titus’ message ever does make it to his donor family, it certainly seems like his story is inspiring others — and perhaps even offering hope to other families who are facing the same battle.”