Gabriel Anthony was born in May 2001 at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, FL. We were about ready to go home the following Thursday when they noticed that he looked a bit yellow. They did tests and found that his bilirubin levels were high. He was put under phototherapy lights for two days but his numbers didn't go down. He was also turning this very odd blueish-green-grey color. Everyone was freaking out at his color. They sent him to the NICU and ran every test they could possibly run and they kept giving us the same answer... "that test is normal"!

The following Monday he was transported to All Children's Hospital in St Petersburg, FL. We were told they had a much larger staff of specialists and that he would be getting much better care. They did a HIDA Scan and liver biopsy but neither of those tests showed anything conclusive so they scheduled exploratory surgery for June 6. During surgery they found that there were no bile ducts in his liver. Our worst fears had come true... he did have biliary atresia. The Kasai was performed and he came through the surgery with flying colors. About 10 days later we finally got to bring our beautiful baby boy home. 

Over the next few weeks we had appointments with the pediatrician and GI. His jaundice wasn't going away and his numbers were not going down. On top of all this, they found that he had inguinal hernias. He went back to All Children's to have those repaired and again he came through surgery wonderfully. No problems at all.

Anthony was listed for transplant on October 9. He is listed as status 2B and we hope we get the call soon. I am also being tested to see if I can be a donor for him, so we'll see how that goes.

We can only hope and pray that things go well for the little Muncher. From the moment he was born he just looked like a little Mun Chi Chi to me...so the nickname Munchie has stuck since then. We call him that so often that we're afraid he won't know his real name! For now he is very happy, giggly... and flirty! He already knows how to raise one eyebrow... which cracks me up! He is gaining weight with the help of the Polycose that we add to his Alimentum.

I want to thank all of you for this wonderful site. I feel as though we have found long lost relatives in you all. Take care and God Bless all of our Children.