10 October 2023 , 12:00
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A mum was left "petrified" after she looked inside her son's nappy and thought he was going to die after her fears prompted doctors to examine him and found no anus.
Vickie Thompson, 36, from West Sussex, was overjoyed when she welcomed her son Charlie on August 12. However, just 10 hours later, he took a turn for the worse and she was unable to wake him from his sleep at Worthington Hospital.
The mum said he didn't manage to fill his nappy after his first feed and spotted that his urine was an unusual green. Upon closer inspection, medics discovered Charlie had been born without an anus and took him to have his stomach pumped.
Recalling the moment she spoke to doctors, Vickie said: "I was absolutely petrified … I thought he was dying. The doctors said, ‘We don’t think he has an opening.’ I was so scared.” Vickie, who is a beautician, shared that Charlie was born with a rare congenital defect which left him without a back passage. This means he cannot release solid waste from his bowels after digestion. The condition affects one in 5,000 babies.
Vickie gave birth to Charlie at Worthington Hospital last year (Jam Press/Vickie Thompson)Charlie was moved to a neonatal intensive care unit as doctors removed the contents of his stomach to ensure there were no toxins. Medical experts then installed a stoma, which is an opening in the abdomen that is linked to the digestive or urinary system. The bag helps direct waste out of the body. The first time mum said the situation was "hard" to cope with as Charlie was induced into a coma for two days to help his new appendage heal. “They had to put him on life support and I kept thinking he was going to die. I kept thinking the worst," she said.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
Vickie and her fiance Alex, 37, were able to take Charlie home following seven intense days in the NICU. She added: “It was very, very stressful and at times felt quite lonely because people were scared to deal with the stoma, so I had to do it all. Friends and family were scared to change his stoma in case they did it wrong and caused an infection. They couldn’t handle the risk. It has certainly been tough going.” The little fighter has had six lifesaving operations since he was born and has more on the way. One of his surgeries appeared unsuccessful as doctors attempted to create an opening for his rear. Sadly, the surgery made his stoma malfunction so the team had to reverse course.
Specialists fitted Charlie with a stoma bag (Jam Press/Vickie Thompson)
Doctors are unsure Charlie will ever be able to be potty trained (Jam Press/Vickie Thompson)Shortly after, Charlie went under the knife again and has an ileostomy, which aims to bring the end of the small bowel through an opening in the stomach, pushing it further out of the body. Describing a decline in his health, Vickie said: "Charlie became very poorly and couldn’t eat for 11 days. He was very vulnerable and malnourished. The liquid coming out of the ileostomy was six times the amount that was going into his body, so he was on fluid drips with vitamins.”
After the ileostomy, Charlie underwent four more operations including the removal of a large part of his bowels which had died. With Charlie expected to live the rest of his life with a stoma, Vickie hopes to raise awareness among other parents. She said: "This has caused him a lot of trauma. The key thing [for me] is spreading awareness and teaching mothers how to check their babies. Despite everything, he’s such a happy baby.”