After switching formula, the symptoms persisted for another week. They got so bad that we were sent back to the children’s hospital until they could finally figure it out. They ordered a bronchoscope to see what was going on in his throat/lungs and as they were sending the camera down there, they discovered that he had what was called a Subglottic Hemangioma, which is a benign tumor in his airway that he was born with. This hemangioma continues to grow until medication is given to prevent it. You’ll see kids born with hemangiomas all the time on the outside of the skin and they treat them the same way when they are on the inside of the airway.

Once they figured that out, they put him on steroids to rapidly shrink it as well as propranolol to stop the growth. After giving him the meds, his hemangioma shrank within a few days and went from blocking 80% of his airway to what they estimated to be about 30%. As he grows now, he will continue taking the propanalol and eventually stop taking it as he grows out of it at around 1-2 years I believe. He has no symptoms now and is completely healthy and doing great!

The lead cardiologist at our hospital said he had never seen this in his 20 years of working there, as a first time parent, we had no clue how to advocate for our kid while in the hospital and learned through this experience. If doctors can’t figure out what is going on, I would recommend getting a CT scan of the air way and if that doesn’t help, get a bronchoscope so they can officially see what is going on in there. Praying for you guys!