Boy born without intestines has spent his entire 18-month life inside hospital
A baby boy has spent all of his 18-month life in hospital after being born without working intestines and his parents moving to the US to keep him alive.
Levi Rafael suffers from short bowel syndrome, which occurs when intestines are shortened or damaged and cannot absorb enough nutrients from food. According to his heartbroken parents baby Levi "has only seen , undergone 17 surgeries, three resuscitations, cardiac arrest and was sedated and ventilated for two months in intensive care".
His mum Olga and dad Ben gave up everything they had in their home country of Israel to move to the US where, at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, they have specialists to help the boy.
Olga sleeps in a small cot beside the hospital bed where Levi is connected to various tubes and machines that monitor his health.
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Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
Bentzi (second from left) and Olga (right) with baby Levi (GoFundMe)The boy was diagnosed with a twisted intestine which led to necrosis and his small intestines had to be completely removed, leaving him unable to eat. From just nine days after he was born, he has been unable to eat anything or drink any water.
The family have moved over to the US while Levi gets treated. They have set up a fundraiser to support them while they live in the US, somewhere far more expensive than their home country.
The fundraiser reads: "Living expenses abroad and medical expenses will be overwhelming. It takes about a year to find a donor and they need to monitor him for another year to make sure his body accepts the new organ. With twin boys at home it's taking a toll on the family."
Levi can't eat through his mouth and needs to be fed via tubes (GoFundMe)
He was born with short bowel syndrome (GoFundMe)With short bowel syndrome, the small intestine can’t absorb enough water, vitamins, minerals, protein, fat, calories, and other nutrients from foods and drinks, a condition called malabsorption.
Short bowel syndrome can lead to:
dehydration
low levels of certain vitamins and minerals
malnutrition
problems with growth and development in infants and children
It took Ben and Olga two years of fertility treatments to conceive their first children - twins. Months after their birth, the couple were surprised to conceive another baby - Levi.
But just nine days after he was born, doctors realised something was seriously wrong with the baby boy. Recalling the horrible moment, Olga said: "Nine days after birth out happiness turned to sorrow."
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The boy has known little apart from the inside of a hospital (GoFundMe)Levi was rushed into urgent care after doctors realised he was born with malrotation, a birth defect link that occurs when the intestines do not correctly rotate into their normal final position during development.
Olga explained: "After birth his intestine became twisted. This caused an intestinal blockage and his intestine did not receive any blood. And necrosis developed."
Olga continued: "Our family fell apart but we decided we are fighting with all our strength and give him a chance to live."
She added: "He cannot eat anything using his mouth. There is a huge hole in his tummy. He needs morphine to relieve his pain."
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