Saving Grayson

The pregnancy and birth of a child is amazing, and a healthy pregnancy and birth is the wish of every mother and father. Sometimes things don’t end up the way we hope they will, Lauren and Cory met their first love after only 29 weeks of pregnancy, on June 27, 2018 at 11:14am. Grayson Abel Stulzaft-Cordell entered the world weighing 4lb and 18inches long about to battle what may be the biggest fight of his life. He was born with a condition in which there is a separation in the abdominal wall. Through this opening protrudes part of the intestines which are not covered by peritoneum (the membrane that normally lines the inside of the abdomen). The medical term is gastroschisis. The CDC estimates that 1,871 infants are born with this disorder every year.  Shortly after his birth, Grayson was taken into surgery to return his intestines to his abdomen. During his procedure the doctors learned that Grayson’s intestines were twisted which required 99% of them to be removed. Grayson is fed through a catheter that is directly in his vein and bypasses his gastrointestinal tract.

Grayson Abel will require an intestinal transplant. There are only a few hospitals in the United States that preform such transplants and it is incredibly expensive.