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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, June 1, 1984 25
Special present makes Mother's Day
Anew-born baby survives a critical procedure
to overcome his breathing problems
BY NORMA WEITZ ZAGER
Special to The Jewish News
Mother's Day 1984 was a
momentous occasion for three gener-
ations of mothers when Joshua
Samuel David Garber returned home
from Children's Hospital of Michi-
gan, alive and well, thanks to a new
procedure named Extracorporeal
Membrane Oxygenation. Joshua was
in the hospital for 18 days and when
he came home had his Brit Malah.
Joshua, son of Dr. Paul and
Nancy Garber of Huntington Woods,
was born at Sinai Hospital of Detroit
with Meconium Aspiration Syn-
drome which inhibits the lungs from
clearing waste products and from
functioning normally.
The procedure, developed for
newborns with certain breathing
problems by Dr. Robert Bartlett at
the University of Michigan, was
brought to Children's Hospital by Dr.
Michael D. Klein who worked closely
with Dr. Bartlett on its development.
Tubes are inserted through the jugu-
lar vein and carotid artery. A
machine oxydizes the blood until the
lungs eliminate their waste and can
begin the normal breathing process.
Although most babies with
Meconium Aspiration Syndrome are
helped by less complicated methods,
Joshua belonged to a sub-group of
babies with an 80 percent chance of
dying from the problem. He was one
of the first babies in Michigan to suc-
cessfully complete the new proce-
dure.
Dr. Mary Bedard, neonatologist
on Joshua's case, felt "Joshua was an
ideal patient for the procedure be-
cause he was a vigorous full-term
baby. We knew he had a lung prob-
lem that would clear up eventually
and the procedure gave us the time
we needed to allow the lungs to clear
and give him the necessary oxygen."
Dr. Bedard said she would like to
see the process expanded for use in
smaller and premature infants as
well.
Nancy Garber will always re-
member the experience: "I always
felt positive that he would make a
complete recovery. The first time I
saw his face was in pictures. I spent
two hours with him in the hospital
(Sinai) waiting for the ambulance (to
take- him to Children's). It was scary
seeing someone breathing for him."
Joshua will continue to be moni-
tored until the age of five to check his
progress although he seems to-be
fully recovered with no side effects at
thds time.
Joshua was welcomed home by
. his sisters, Danielle, 10, and Lisa, 8,
grandparents Robert and Ruth
Umlah and Sophie Garber, and
great-grandmother Dorothy Umlah.
If he can survive all the hugs and
kisses from his sisters, Joshua
Samuel David Garber is going to be a
two -,time winner,
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Nancy Garber gets Lisa, 8, at left, and Danielle, 10, acquainted with brother Joshua.
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