ROBSTOWN, Tx — The birth of a baby is known as the happiest day of a parent's life, but for one Robstown parent, it came with nightmares.
Samantha Garza gave birth to her son Giancarlo Cortez Igartua on Sept. 4, 2024. Just a few days later at a pediatrician appointment, Samantha told the doctor one of her other children had tested positive for COVID and pneumonia, and she was nervous her newborn baby would contract it.
Unfortunately, just about an hour after getting home from that appointment, Giancarlo started projectile vomiting, and Samantha quickly took her son to the emergency room where he stopped feeding and was severely dehydrated. At 7:30 the next morning nurses panicked stating his temperature was low, heart rate was high, and saw blood in his stool while changing his diaper.
A surgeon performed an exploratory surgery on the infant after discovering a blockage in the intestines via an X-ray. Just 45 minutes later, Giancarlo was diagnosed with malrotation of the intestines.
"Surgery starts, 20 minutes later, surgeons come in and share the most heartbreaking news ever," Samantha said. "His intestines were completely dead, they measure at only one centimeter and there was no blood flow."
Malrotation of the intestines is a birth defect in which a baby's intestines do not completely rotate within the womb and can become twisted or blocked leading to serious complications.
According to KidsHealth.org, 1 in 500 babies are born in the United States with this birth defect, and the cause is unknown. The condition is undetectable prior to birth. Swollen abdomen, little or no defecating, or urinating, and fever are just some of the symptoms. The condition is deadly if not treated quickly.
The doctors discovered there was little blood flow when trying to untangle the intestines, and decided to leave him open so they could monitor his intestinal health.
After 48 hours of being fed through IV nutrition, antibiotics and heavy pain medication, doctors informed Samantha that there was a 50/50 chance that Giancarlo's small intestines had survived being twisted for so long. The surgeon decided to give it another 48 hours because the intestines were grey, and in limbo, wanting to monitor the situation to see if anything changed.
After the two days passed, Samantha and her husband were called into a private room where they were given a nightmare scenario. Either to close their son up, and let him pass away from natural causes or perform a risky surgery.
The surgery involved the newborns dead intestines being cut out, and the reattaching the working part to the colon. Doing this would mean the infant would live the rest of his life in a hospital, on IV nutrition. Living this way leaves you at risk of continuous infections, blood clots, collapsed veins, and organ failure.
The parents had just five minutes to make that impossible choice, or their son would suffer greatly.
“They told me you have 5 minutes to decide because we left your son on the operating table and we need to know what to do right now," Samantha said.
The parents decided not to go through with the surgery, but miraculously Giancarlo survived, but still had some obstacles. The now eight-week-old has not eaten since he was five days old, and has only received proper nutrients through IV nutrition.
Many doctors in Texas do not do bowel transplants, leading Samantha to seek held elsewhere for her warrior son. The first was in Cincinnati, Ohio where their insurance denied them.
Samantha is now in Omaha, Nebraska at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and the latest update KRIS 6 News received was that after doctors evaluated Giancarlo, they discovered he went from having very little small intestine left to a favorable amount, and most likely will get to live a normal life. Originally, his parents were told he needed a transplant to survive.
That's not all, he is not only a survivor, but diagnosis made him a hero too.
Samantha said a family friend took their newborn son to Driscoll Children's Hospital after he started projectile vomiting similar to Giancarlo. The staff there was able to properly diagnose the baby and save his small intestine due to their experience treating Giancarlo.
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