A Doctor's Love...on World TTTS Awareness Day

Today is the day set aside to make the world aware of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome.. Click here for a link on what TTTS is and here for information on the awareness day. Although not preventable or 100% treatable, it can be caught in time to save lives. We were lucky…no wait… God intervened to ensure that ours was caught in time to save one of our boys. Sometimes that isn’t the case, sometimes it is just too late or too severe. But He loves us enough to help us, to take care of us. He held us in the palm of his loving hands during the 11 weeks that we lived with affects of TTTS because he loves us. He wrapped his loving arms around me as I cried tear after tear of sorrow in the many months after we lost Cole because He loves me. If we had lost both our boys, He would have wrapped me in those loving arms and held me up when I couldn’t hold myself up any longer because He loves me.
He loves all of us and gives us gifts and talents so that we may share them with the world, displaying this love in amazing ways. Today, on World TTTS Awareness Day, I decided to share this picture and quote because some of the greatest talents our loving God gives is to those medical professionals who are passionate about their work, who love their job.

A very small degree of hope is sufficient to cause the birth of love.
Stendhal

I thought this quote was so perfect for the picture above. For those of you who have never seen this picture it is One of the most amazing photographs that you’ll ever see . This picture of Samuel, a 21-week old baby boy, whose tiny hand reaches out of the womb and grabs the finger of the surgeon who was operating on him, as if to say, "Thanks doc, you did a wonderful job,” should be seen by the whole world.

It happened when Dr. Joseph P. Bruner, director of fetal diagnosis and treatment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center was performing a cutting edge procedure on a 21 week old fetus.
Bruner and Samuel’s parents hope the surgery will alleviate the effects of spina bifida, a disabling birth defect in one or two of every 1,000 babies born.

During the procedure, surgeons remove the uterus from the mother, drain the amniotic fluid, perform surgery on the tiny fetus, then put the uterus back inside the mother. The procedure took about an hour. There are no words to describe this incredible photo.

What an amazing story, what a huge display of love in this picture. This doctor, like our own Dr. Ryan, performed the most amazing surgery and changed this family’s life forever. And why? Because he loves his work, because he loves saving and changing lives.
And in return, this family, like my own, loves this doctor for his God given talent that saved their son, that gave them an earthly son to love. The feeling of love that this family will have towards this man will never stop. Grateful is not strong enough of a word… I’m not sure there is one but love comes as close as you can get.
I know because I have a love for the man that changed our lives and I am not alone in this. Approximately 7200 babies suffer from TTTS in the US each year. Thankfully more of those babies survive than die and everyone one of those families has a love for their doctor.
I also know that Samuel, this baby whose loving little hand embraced this talented doctor, will love their doctor too. His parents will tell his story and how him this picture because their hearts swell with love for him and for their doctor. He has grown up knowing that he loved this man before he ever took a breath and that he changed this man’s life forever with this amazing gesture of love.
Cameron is and will be well aware of the love we have for Dr. Ryan and Mt. Sinai. Cameron Cole Gregory and Cole Edward Ryan have been given lasting reminders of our love and gratitude for Dr. Greg Ryan. I am so grateful for the love he has for his job and for the loving talents that God bestowed on him.