Esophageal Atresia and Tracheoesophageal Fistula (EA/TEF)

For those of you unfamiliar with EA/TEF, the quick rundown is that the atresia means that the esophagus ends in a blind pouch and the trachea and the esophagus have an abnormal attachment.  There are varying degrees of this birth defect, but they all require surgical intervention for survival.

It's more often than not associated with prematurity and linked to other birth defects that fall under the acronym VACTERL (vertebral, anal, cardiac, trachea, esophagus, renal and limb).  It occurs in 1 of every 4000 births; in America, that yields about 3 babies born DAILY.

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I'm writing this because I wasn't on FB when DS1 was born with EA/TEF.  We literally went through this blindly, and stumbled @ss backwards into EXCELLENT care.  Some are not so fortunate.  We literally just want to spread the word that there are HUNDREDS of EA/TEF families across the US and VERY FEW hospitals that are successfully treating kids.   

If you have a child with EA/TEF, please join us on FB.  If you know someone who has a child with EA/TEF (regardless of age), please encourage them to join us.  We're a great group of people, and love to meet new families!!

Thanks, ladies!!  Happy New Year!!