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An Illinois baby with a rare genetic disorder is finally discharged after spending the first year of his life in the hospital. This past weekend, Max Do celebrated his first birthday at home with his family. He was born at 31 weeks on June 4th, 2021 and would spend nearly a year in the neonatal intensive care unit at Advocate Children's Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois. He was there so long that hospital staff dubbed him the “mayor of the NICU.”
At first doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Max. They saw that he had a distended belly while he was still in the womb and after multiple surgeries and lots of tests they finally figured out that he had a rare genetic mutation that messes with his body’s ability to regulate how much sodium and water goes into his intestine. He’s one of maybe 15 people in the world with this particular mutation.
After 354 days of intensive care, Max has finally recovered and although the condition is incurable and life-threatening, doctors believe it’s manageable. They credit Max’s strength for making it this far and praise his parents Kim Nguyen and Dan Do for being there “every step of the way.” Now he’s home with his parents and his older sister Ivy and they say he’s “really happy" and is making big strides, literally, having recently taken his first steps.
Source: ABC News