Bethel Park child gets wish granted
Joy Campbell and her husband, Josh, were living in Key West when they learned they were pregnant with their first child, Natalie Jane.
Like many young couples, the Campbells were excited and nervous and eager to begin building their family.
After countless trips to the doctor offices, numerous therapy sessions and multiple heart and kidney surgeries, Natalie is now 5.
“At six months, she was already my million-dollar baby,” said Joy, during a recent interview while sitting at the dining room table in her Bethel Park home.
To see Natalie in person, you would not suspect that the little, dark-haired girl dressed in pink with a ready smile would have any medical problems at all. Natalie is obsessed with make-up, Princess Barbie and her favorite, G.I. Joe. On this particular day, she was glued to the television set watching a Princess Barbie DVD. The only thing noticeably different about Natalie is a feeding tube hanging from her belly.
“She is a girly girl,” Joy said of her daughter. “She loves having her daddy paint her fingernails.”
And she loves G.I. Joe, thanks to her father, Josh, a Marine science technician in the U.S. Coast Guard who showed his daughter a cartoon one day about the legendary fictional soldier. Natalie was hooked on G.I. Joe from that moment on, Joy said.
When Joy was 20 weeks into her pregnancy, she learned her unborn baby had a left duplex kidney, a condition where two ureters come from a single kidney, according to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
This condition usually affects one out of 100 people. In some cases, there is no need for surgery. But, in other cases, like that of Natalie’s, one part of the kidney has not developed properly and, as a result, it doesn’t function properly.
When Natalie was born, she weighed in at a normal 7 pounds, 1 ounce. Three days later, however, she developed jaundice. Doctors also discovered she was not feeding well and moved her into intensive care. A day later little Natalie was in cardiac intensive care, Joy said.
“It was real tough not being able to hold her,” she said.
The newborn had a hole in her heart and a condition called coarctation of the aorta, a congenital condition where the aorta narrows to an abnormally small width. When someone has this condition, the left ventricle has to work harder, and because the aorta is narrowed, the left ventricle must also generate higher pressure to force blood through the aorta to deliver blood to the lower body.
“When she was a week old, she had to have a blood transfusion,” said Joy, adding that she and her husband took Natalie to Miami Children’s Hospital for her first heart surgery. Three months after that surgery, Natalie had to return to the hospital again to have a heart catherization because her aorta began to narrow again. A kidney surgery soon followed.
“All of this may have seemed traumatic and it was,” Joy said. “But, I had a real sense of peace. I felt real confident that the doctors were going to be able to fix her.”
When Natalie was three months, the Coast Guard told the couple that their daughter’s medical care, which totaled more than $1 million at that time, was getting too expensive, Joy said.
“Insurance has covered pretty much everything,” she said.
And because Key West is one of the costliest cities in the U.S. to live in, Josh was going to be transferred. They had their choice of destinations, one of which was Cleveland, Joy’s hometown.
More heart surgery for their baby followed at Cleveland Clinic. Natalie was on a feeding tube through her nose for seven months, Joy said. During that time, she developed reflux disease. Then, more kidney surgery followed in 2011. Part of Natalie’s deformed kidney was removed.
“She kept getting urinary tract infections,” said Joy, thumbing through pictures on her computer to help remember her daughter’s numerous medical problems. Doctors finally discovered her infections were caused by a ureter stump from one of the previous kidney surgeries. Natalie has another surgery to take care of that problem.
Despite Natalie’s medical problems, the couple decided to have another child. They were scared at first, but quickly put those fears behind them after their son, Alistair, was born. Alistair means helper or friend in Scottish, Joy said.
“We were scared, but were comforted by the pre-natal ultrasound,” she said. “We wanted Natalie to have a sibling.”
Alistair, who stands nearly as tall as his older sister, goes to most all of Natalie’s medical appointments.
“He is pretty sensitive when it comes to his sister,” Joy said.
Two years ago, when Natalie was on the mend, Joy said she wanted to make a lasting memory for Natalie – and for her entire family. So, she contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the organization that grants a wish to a child with a life-threatening illness.
“When she was 3, I put in for the trip,” Joy said.
Make-A-Wish officials, however, told Joy that her daughter was still too young to know what she really wanted.
That changed earlier this year. The Campbells found themselves living in Pittsburgh and Natalie knew she wanted to go to Disney World. On Dec. 6, Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia sent the Campbell family to Florida. They spent three days in Disney World, two days at Universal Studios and one day at Sea World.
At nearby Give Kids The World Village, where the Campbells stayed during their Florida visit, Natalie got a surprise of a lifetime. Christopher Jackson, a U.S. Army veteran and current employee of Give Kids The World organization, put on a camo jumpsuit and military red beret, grabbed some pink nail polish and cotton balls, and proceeded to paint her nails and give her a makeover, which included face painting and airbrushed princess tattoos, which were still on her forearms.
“Natalie was a true cadet during her makeover – taking charge and giving orders. Her unique wish was one mission I will never forget,” Jackson said.
Joy hopes the Disney experience and the memory will make it easier for Natalie when the family has to move again.
Natalie still gets 90 percent of her nourishment through the feeding tube in her belly, said Joy, who doesn’t know how long it will remain in place. Because of her past surgeries, Joy said Natalie doesn’t like going to the dentist, or having her teeth brushed.
Still, there are some solid foods she will eat. This includes hotdogs and chicken nuggets.
“If she likes something, I will let her eat it,” Joy said.
Natalie is in the 50 percentile in weight and is starting to make friends at her pre-school at Bethel Memorial Elementary School. Because she has missed so much school because of her illnesses, Natalie is behind children her own age.
“She can now count to 10,” Joy said.
“I am grateful she is in good health and making new friends,” she said. “She can definitely live a normal life.”