Corbin Marc Grabb
July 20, 2004 to
June 29, 2006
At our routine 20 week ultrasound, the doctors
found something wrong with our baby's heart.We
were sent to a specialist for fetal echocardiograms.
During that visit, we learned that our baby boy had
a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD), a fatal heart
condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.
Basically, he had only half a heart.
These were the options we faced:
have a late-term abortion; offer the
baby only comfort and care after birth
and let him pass away within hours;
place our baby on a heart transplant
list and await a donor; or find a
hospital that would perform
experimental surgery to try and
save his life.
The last option meant immediate
surgery to begin re-routing our baby's
heart to enable it to function with only one
ventricle. That surgery would be the first in a series of three open heart surgeries over a course of two years. Needless to say, the situation was overwhelming and the decision daunting.
We immediately knew we would try and save our son's precious, God-given life and began immediately searching for a hospital. We chose the hospital at the University of Michigan and traveled to Ann Arbor to give birth to our son, whom we named Corbin. After much prayer, we chose the three-surgery option. Just three days old, Corbin had his first open heart surgery.
Corbin was released from the hospital several weeks later. What joy it gave us to bring home our little baby boy! But, as thrilling as it was, it was equally frightening. He was outfitted with a feeding tube that ran from his nose to his tummy. He needed to be fed every two hours. He also took five different medications for his heart.
We adjusted well and life was good, but then things went terribly wrong. Corbin was losing weight and was very blue. One evening we rushed Corbin to the emergency room because he was not responding. Once there, they rushed him into the operating room to perform a heart catherization to take pictures of the inside of his heart. They found he was not getting enough oxygen because his heart was not functioning properly. He was placed on a ventilator to help him breath and was flown by life flight back to Michigan.
Corbin was very ill. After weeks of testing, we learned that Corbin had developed a blood disorder from the way they had re-routed his 
heart. It was critical that he have another surgery as soon as possible. His second heart surgery wasn’t supposed to take place for another three months, at the soonest, so he would have a chance to heal and grow. But, events superseded this initial plan and, at 8 weeks of age, we once again watched our son go off for heart surgery. After 7 hours in the operating room, we learned that Corbin was critical and would be in the ICU in a few hours. Three hours later, we were able to see him.
heart. It was critical that he have another surgery as soon as possible. His second heart surgery wasn’t supposed to take place for another three months, at the soonest, so he would have a chance to heal and grow. But, events superseded this initial plan and, at 8 weeks of age, we once again watched our son go off for heart surgery. After 7 hours in the operating room, we learned that Corbin was critical and would be in the ICU in a few hours. Three hours later, we were able to see him. That evening, Corbin’s heart stopped and he was rushed down for his 2nd emergency heart catherization. His heart was just giving up. At midnight, Corbin was placed on an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine that pumped his heart and oxygenated his body for him. The goal was to enable his tired, tired body to heal and rest.
Corbin never stabilized, however, despite the rest the ECMO provided. So, at 10 weeks of age, the doctors decided to try another time to repair and re-route his heart. We watched, again, as our precious boy was wheeled into the operating room. After a grueling 9 hours in surgery, Corbin was taken off the external heart and lung machine. We were so excited to learn that he was brought up to the ICU with his own heart doing all the work!
Corbin began the slow process of healing. But, one morning we arrived at ICU to learn that Corbin had once again taken a turn for the worse. He was rushed down to the heart catherization OR. We learned that some of his arteries were closing off. And so, we watched the doctors take Corbin to his 4th surgery--in only three months.
How very difficult it was to see him go through so much and fight so hard. We questioned if we were doing the right thing. But then Corbin showed us how strong he was. He immediately bounced back and finally came off the ventilator and began breathing on his own. We were so relieved to see such progress.
But as time went on, we learned that Corbin was draining fluid from the tubes in his chest. He was losing important proteins and fats to help his body heal. So after a long discussion with the team, Corbin went in for his 5th surgery. This time, instead of operating through his chest, they entered through his side to stop the bleeding, clear out his chest cavity, and give him a faster recovery.
At six months of age, Corbin was finally ready to come home again.
He was still a very sick little boy. He flew home with a pump that fed him constantly since he was still unable to suck or swallow without it going into his lungs. He was on oxygen for his lungs and to keep the
pressure in the arteries to his lungs down. His medications were many and overwhelming--he was on 21 different medications given over 60 times a day. And, even though he was six months old, he was developmentally at a newborn level.
During Corbin’s hospital stay, Travis' job transferred us from North Carolina to Virginia, a move which positioned us better financially to handle the looming medical bills. We found a great medical team in Virginia and Corbin made amazing progress. He dropped to only six heart medications daily and needed oxygen only at night. Further, Corbin made great strides developmentally. He learned to eat completely on his own, a skill we wondered if we'd ever witness since he spent so much of his life on a feeding tube.
We were so enjoying life with Corbin, which had become relatively stable. But April 2006 started a new chapter. It was then we faced another surgery to repair Corbin's heart. On April 13, 2006 Corbin went in for his 6th open heart surgery. We prayed it would be his last for years to come. He went in physically strong and the odds were fairly good.
The surgery went perfectly. But on the elevator ride from the OR to ICU Corbin’s heart stopped. When we finally saw him, he was critical and bleeding badly from the chest compressions performed to revive him. There was nothing left to be done but wait.
Amazingly, he responded over the coming week. We were downgraded from ICU to general care and were overjoyed. But, within an hour of leaving the ICU, Corbin's heart stopped while he was in my arms and began bleeding profusely. He was rushed back to ICU. We learned after several hours that they could not get his heart to function again. Corbin was once again placed on the ECMO to keep his body alive. Again, the hope was to enable him to rest while allowing the surgeons to determine a course of action. Meanwhile, his need for donated blood was very high; he used over 500 units in just three days. The chest compressions performed to save his life damaged the walls of his chest cavity, causing intense bleeding. They needed to operate again to stop the bleeding or he would not survive.
They stopped the bleeding and we were overjoyed! He remained on ECMO for three more weeks. Then, we celebrated again as he was downgraded from ICU to a unit requiring less care. But our hopes quickly faded when, within days, we learned Corbin was not getting any blood flow into his left lung. This would require intervention once again.
After reviewing many options, it was decided to attempt a heart catherization to open the artery. Thus, Corbin was wheeled away for his 10th heart catherization surgery. During the procedure, complications arose and they lost two of the stents that would have opened the artery. Those stents had to be removed from his heart. So Corbin was taken for emergency surgery to remove the stents and repair his heart. Although they worked for 12 hours, the doctors were able to remove only one stent. The next day, they performed his 9th open heart surgery to remove the final stent.
It was during this surgery that a major complication arose. Corbin was placed on a heart lung pump during surgery and a blood clot passed through to his brain. This caused major bleeding in Corbin's brain. Corbin never awoke from his last surgery. On June 29, 2006, Corbin passed away after an amazing fight.
We miss Corbin greatly. But we are grateful to God that He gave Corbin to us, even though it was only for a short 23 months. In his brief life on earth, Corbin taught many big lessons. He taught us perseverance. He taught us to find joy in pain and suffering. He taught us what it means to sacrifice for loved ones. And he taught us to cling to God in prayer. This was God's plan for Corbin's life, and ours, and God faithfully is guiding us through this trial, for He never leaves us nor forsakes us. Praise be to God.
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