[Evangelista]

This appeared in the paper this morning, and it was just so heartbreaking and yet, a testimonial to the power of love.

My heart and thoughts go out to this family!


The Arizona Republic
Sept. 25, 2006 12:00 AM

The final chapter of Veronica Celis' life began Sunday just before dawn.

A bacterial infection was spreading fast through her body, and there was no time to wait. The tiny girl growing inside the brain-dead woman needed to be born. Thirty weeks would have to be enough.

It was a day that Aaron Celis faced with both happiness and dread. Welcoming his daughter meant that his wife would soon die.

Cancer had overwhelmed her body, but life support was giving the baby a chance.

Veronica was just 36, the mother of three boys. She and Aaron had led a happy life in Yuma. She loved having a house with all boys, but her dream was for a girl. When the couple found out she was having a girl, Veronica seemed so happy. They decided to name the baby after her: Veronica Destiny.

But when the breast cancer that they thought she had licked came back, Veronica didn't falter. She weathered pain and tried to make the best of her pregnancy.

But her health spiraled downward, landing her in early August at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. She was heavily sedated. Then her body gave out and she was put on life support.

Veronica and baby Veronica kept on, past one week, then another. Doctors had hoped to deliver the baby Oct. 6, at about 32 weeks of pregnancy.

Veronica weathered highs and lows in blood pressure and hormonal spikes, but nothing too drastic until early Sunday, when infection began to spread.

Calls went out to the medical teams caring for both mother and daughter.

By 7 a.m., a large operating room was being prepped for Veronica. Nurses turned up the heat. The normally chilly room had to be warm for the baby.

Not quite an hour later, the room was filled with more than a dozen nurses and doctors. Two teams were in place, one around the table that would hold the baby, the other clustered around Veronica on the operating table.

Dressed in hospital scrubs, Aaron, 38, stood at the foot of Veronica's bed.

Dr. Karrie Francois, a perinatalogist, made an incision below Veronica's stomach. Within seconds, the team had scooped up the baby, pink and healthy, carrying her to the warming table.

Thirty weeks had been enough.

The doctor and nurses worked furiously over the infant, now kicking out with her tiny feet. There was a cough and a cry, then another small, gurgling cry.

"She's born into a loving and wonderful family," the hospital chaplain told daddy Aaron.

A prayer was said and the baby baptized.

Baby Veronica's arms sliced through the air and she kicked her feet. Aaron leaned in with his hand, and Veronica grabbed hold of his pinky with her right hand.

Dr. Michelle Bez, who works for Phoenix Children's Hospital in its location at Good Samaritan, needed to ensure the baby's breathing. So she inserted a tube down Veronica's throat. A green oxygen bag was attached and members of the team took turns pumping it.

"She's just fine," Bez said, beaming. "I'm happy."

Baby Veronica was 2 pounds, 15 ounces at birth. Because her lungs are so small, she'll stay in a ventilator and be given medicine for a while.

"She's so pretty," Aaron said.

He looked over at his wife, just 10 feet away. He was frozen, wanting to go to his wife, wanting to stay with the baby.

But in minutes, the choice was made for him. With the baby stable, she was carried to her mother. For a few minutes, the two lie side by side. Aaron bent down and squeezed his eyes shut, kissing his wife, then the baby, then Veronica again.

It was the last time mother and child would be together alive. Nurses took the baby to the neonatal unit, and Veronica was taken back to her hospital room.

During the next few hours, Aaron moved between the two areas of the hospital, welcoming his daughter and preparing to tell his wife goodbye.

He decided to wait to remove the life support until this morning. He doesn't want baby Veronica to share a birthday with the death of her mother.

A little after 1 p.m., Aaron emerged alone from Veronica's hospital room, leaving other family members in the room to say goodbye. He sighed and looked down.

"This is the most horrible day of my life," he said, his reddened eyes moist with tears.

"But I thanked her for everything. I told her, 'I will make it happen. We will make it a good family. I'll take care of our little baby.' "

Leaving his wife's side for even a few minutes has been hard. As he stood at the doorway of the ICU, his eyes were locked on the doorway to his wife's room.

He knew that as horrible as the day had been, he had to get through one more.

Aaron planned to spend the night with Veronica and be there this morning when doctors take her off the machines that have kept her heart and lungs going.

"I'll have one more night with her," he said.

"One last night."

[bebop]

oh god how sad!! thank you for sharing

[alisandria]

I can't help but wonder how healthy this baby truly will be after unavoidably being given an onslaught of chemotherapy and morphine in utero. Those doctors cannot even begin to know or understand the long term affects that will have on her. What kind of impact it has had on her nervous system development. Sorry, I don't share the opinion that this is a beautiful deed the mother did for her child.

Sorry this kind of stuff just angers me more than seeing it as a "miracle"....oi.

[TYMBERWOLV]

(((((( SNIFFLES ))))))

THAT HAD TO BE THE HARDEST THING TO DO ... I WILL HAVE THIS FAMILY IN MY PRAYERS FOR HEALING

[bebop]

I didn't see where the mother had chemo or morphine. I know a girl that found out she was pregnant and while pregnant found out she had breast cancer. no treatments at all. she passed right after giving birth

[alisandria]

It isn't in this post. It was in separate news reports about her and the baby. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

[bebop]

thank you for the link. I would think the drs would know if all that would harm the baby. I won't second guess God's plan though.

[Evangelista]

I have worked in Children’s hospitals, and part of my job duties required me to be in close contact with Intensive Care Neonates who were surviving all sorts of illnesses and defects, some brought on by Prematurity, others at times addicted to drugs introduced during pregnancy, both therapeutic, and illicit. I know first hand about the struggles and heartaches these infants bring into a families life. I have witnessed tremendously powerful human dramas as families and professionals work diligently to preserve these little one’s lives, and not always succeeding. The challenges these children face from the get go are tremendous, but for this little blessing, although there will be many battles, she won’t be facing them alone. The right to determine her future was made by two loving devoted parents, full of hope and faith, in spite of insurmountable odds. I guess I look at it as an inspirational reflection of how powerful love is, and not as a misuse of modern medical paradigms. IMHO.

[alisandria]

I'm not second guessing God's plan. I just feel it's really irresponsible in the first place for someone that is in remission for breast cancer to put herself in a position to become pregnant. There are ways to prevent pregnancy, including abstinence. Maybe I feel very strongly to this as I watched my sister go through a really horrendous battle with breast cancer after her second child was born, he was not even a year old when this happened. The chemo she took was so toxic that no one was to use the same toilet in the house after she returned back from treatment...and I remember it had to be flushed three times, even if it was just urine...just goes to show you how toxic that can be.

God gave man the tools, and insight to make formulated decisions...it was man that hooked her up to machines to keep her alive long after God called her back home, without man's intervention she and the baby would have died. Now a child is without a mother, and has an uncertain future, she isn't out of the woods yet. I just feel it is so sad, but from a different perspective.

Lisa

[BlueFaith]

No matter the opinion of how right or wrong the mother was... it's still heartbreaking for a mother to die and leave her husband and children. I know everyone has different opinions.. but, to me, no matter how it happens, it's still hard to know a mother has died and left her family behind.

[bebop]

I completely agree mp! how was the mother to know she would get cancer again? I agree with the parents that abortion is not an option! guess this is one for a decent debate.

[alisandria]

Well, I'm prochoice, but this isn't even about abortion to me. It's about making an educated decision of prevention. Being in remission, isn't being cured of cancer. One of the things you don't want to do while in remission is take hormones of any sort, or get pregnant, it can rear the ugly head of cancer.

GSH remind me a lot of the Caritas hospitals here that are run by the Catholic Dioceses (and I am Catholic), the tunnel vision that many have there. Just really unfortunate.

Sad, sad, sad.

Lisa

[Mystry]

It hurts so bad...

[Evangelista]

I am so sorry Lisa that you watched your sister go thru the Chemo, it is a really terrible to observe someone you love suffering so due to the ravages of breats cancer treatment. I have had that experience too, only my sister didn't survive, she was 38. Her children miss her terribly, as do I.

[Evangelista]

Bebop & MP...this story really touched my heart this morning..the picture of the father kissing his wife's forehead with the little baby tucked nexted to her while they were still in the OR..was so very moving...I only wish the best for this father who is going to raise his young family, while mourning the love of his life..

[alisandria]

Wow, (((Evangelista))) I'm sorry for your loss. My sis went through about a year and a half of agressive chemo and radiation. She was pretty sick. Really sorry for your loss, it's such a hard fight.

[Evangelista]

Mystry...sorry..hope you are ok...

[BlueFaith]

((( Evangelista ))) ((( alisandria )))
I'm sorry for the pain both of you have had to go through.

[alisandria]

Right MP, but that is my feeling to this all. That is my opinion, with or without a debate...I'm entitled to what I feel. For you to say nothing more, nothing less is in my opinion negating my feelings, and view of this.

I admittedly said I don't know why it bothers me so much, I don't know her. It just struck a cord with me. I just felt this was all something that didn't have to happen. How the choices a person makes in a split second can change their lives and those around them forever. Maybe that's it? So tired of hearing stuff that could have been prevented, like that 22 year old that made a really stupid decision on the campus my daughter attends. He was goofing around on a bridge (after a night of partying with his friends this weekend) and fell head first 7 feet to the rocks below to his death. Now his parent's want the state highway dept to put up higher fences to stop this from happening to another family (mind you, the fence that is up is chest high, and secure). Maybe it just strikes a cord with me, because people have choices and they don't often choose wisely.

I feel for both of those families, but I also feel anger because it really didn't have to be that way. Maybe that is why the trigger icon is up there? Cause it triggers stuff, and this triggered that for me? I think perhaps so, cause now I can understand why I feel anger.

Thanks (I nutshelled all that, sorry). Lisa

Was just more or less talking out loud, the way people do sometimes when there is a death and they grieve...not that I knew this woman, but can't help but think one choice she made, changed all their lives, and certainly not for the better.

[alisandria]

Thanks MP. I think this all helped me sort out my feelings. We just found out about that kid this afternoon. This is the second death in two weeks on campus...something that usually doesn't happen this way. I think it has us all unraveled at the seems a bit.

Lisa

[BlueFaith]

Lisa, I apologize. I didn't mean to sound harsh! And I definitely didn't mean to make it sound like your opinions, views, or feelings don't matter. I can understand why you feel so strongly about it. That just came out harsh and cold.. (what I posted earlier).. and I really, honestly didn't mean for it to. Everyone here is welcome to share their feelings, and I didn't mean to make you feel like yours are wrong or don't matter. They do. I was wrong for making it sound like that. Please accept my apology.

((( alisandria )))

[Evangelista]

Lisa..can understand being triggered by this..especially after reading your posts..thats why I put the icon attached...maybe that is why it really hurt this morning, because of what happened to my sister, then a few yrs laters, in 2004 I had to remove my father off of life support..so I so could relate with the tragedy in several ways...but where I found the hope was in all these ppl fighting so hard to keep one little life from slipping away..then the dad's love for his wife and children, the selflessness, because having had to make that decision myself with the machines, I guess I just empathized so much with the heartache...but then there is just that precious little baby fighting the odds that took her mom..and the husband fighting the odds that took his wife..and it just struck me as inspiring..

[alisandria]

I do, I hope you will accept mine as well. I didn't see your post when I posted what I did, I was in the midst of writing it. I really do think this just sparked for me. That coupled with me worrying bout both my nieces, and seeing how my daughter is relating to the stuff happening on campus, she didn't knwo either of them personally, but it brings back some hard memories for her too. Two summers ago an exboyfriend of hers drowned cause of a poor choice he made. To swim in a quarry that was clearly marked no swimming.

Ugh...ok, enough reading...I really need to get my period, LOL...this PMDD is driving me bonkers!!

LIsa

[JustAPixie]

I had very strobg views and beliefs about prochoice and all of that. I believe everyone deserves a chance etc, but after reading through all of your replies I have realized that each of our pasts have shaped us differently and we will make different choices regarding the same matter. It doesn't make it wrong or right... only your heart will tell you if the choice you made was right...
Sometimes, instead of condemning someone because of their choices and actions, we should take into account what has led them to this... it is different for all of us and some of us won't be able to handle the same choice another made... It just goes to show that in life there is so much beneath the surface that we see.

[sabby]

In reading all your posts, I can understand where each of you is coming from and why you feel the way you do. It is a sad story, but at the same time, there is possibility for great joy to come of it. All any of us can do in life is make the best informed decisions that we can, whether they be right or wrong. We never truly know what the outcome of any of our decisions will be. We can assume what will happen, but there is no guarentee in life, only in death. On that note, I received this lovely prayer today from a friend and thought it might be appropriate to share in this thread. It really backs up what Tanya has stated...

Best Prayer I Have Heard In A Long Time...

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic
last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly s low through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the
greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we
hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to
all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.