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The Sally Stunkel Storyby Robert Stunkel

In August of 1995, my wife, Elizabeth, was 5 months pregnant and we got a call from her obstetrician. He told us that Elizabeth's alpha-feta protein blood test was abnormal, with an elevated level which could indicate Down's Syndrome. We scheduled an ultrasound that week to do an amniocentesis. During the scan the ultrasound technician discovered a mass at the base of the baby's tailbone so we were referred to a perinatologist in Las Vegas. The mass was diagnosed as a sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) that is a condition found in one in 40,000 babies.

In the following months we made frequent visits to the perinatologist for fetal assessments. In mid November, my wife became very uncomfortable as a result of polyhydramnios, or an excess amniotic fluid. We were told that the location of the umbilical artery was not normal, that our baby was stressed, and she was not swallowing fluid normally. Over the next month our baby's condition worsened and two liters of amniotic fluid were drained by amniocentesis by Dr. Abdella, a colleague of Dr. Lipshitz's in Las Vegas. My wife was prescribed strict bed rest and upon her next visit to the doctors, 2 more liters were tapped and drained.

It was two and a half months before our baby's due date and the doctors told us to prepare for the worst, that our baby might die prior to her delivery. At this point our emotions were high and our hearts were torn. While driving home with my wife, we were both upset and I said to her, "Elizabeth, we're going to lose this baby."

The decision for a C-section

There was much discussion about how to proceed. It was decided that Elizabeth should deliver that night via C-section and we were told there was a high probability that our baby would die of heart failure prior to or shortly after birth.

Dr. Musci had delivered several babies with SCT's and he did a beautiful job delivering our baby girl. Our little girl, born 2 months early, was immediately taken to the Intensive Care Nursery and my wife was wheeled to the recovery room. My daughter was very sick that first night and Dr. Hawgood, the neonatologist, stayed with her all night. The next morning I left my daughter and Dr. Hawgood at 3:00 am and when I returned at 5:30 am he was still there caring for her.

Throughout that day I consulted with Dr. Michael Harrison, the Chief pediatric surgeon and Director of the Fetal Treatment Center. My daughter was born with the SCT and a surgery still had to be performed to resect the mass. Dr. Harrison explained that we needed my daughter to stabilize a little more before surgery could be performed and that it was still a very tenuous prognosis. The SCT was so large and had such a large blood volume it was causing my daughter's heart to be overworked and she was showing signs of heart failure. Also, the red blood cells were breaking down causing her potassium levels to rise and her platelet levels to fall.

That evening Dr. Harrison successfully performed the first of three surgeries on my little girl. He removed the four pound five ounce SCT. The surgeries took place over a six week period of time and my little girl bravely survived each day, slowly gaining weight and strength. The first surgery was resection of the SCT, the second was a liver biopsy to ensure there was no liver metastasis, a complication of SCTs, and the third was a "clean up" procedure of her coccyx.

The recovery

By Jan. 1, 1996, all of Sally's surgeries had been completed and we were anxious to take her home but she was still a sick little girl and required the expert care of the UCSF Intensive Care Nursery staff. She needed to gain weight so she could maintain her temperature outside the incubator and be able to breastfeed for all of her feedings. By Feb. 7, 1996, we were boarded on a plane back to our home in Las Vegas with our beautiful little girl, Sally Elizabeth Stunkel.

My wife and I will never forget this time that we spent in San Francisco. All of the doctors and their staff were heroic and deserve tremendous credit. From Las Vegas Dr. Jolley gave us Dr. Harrison's name, Dr. Boruszak demanded we go to UCSF, and Dr. Mason gave us invaluable consultation. From UCSF in San Francisco, Dr. Harrison, Dr. Hawgood and Dr. Musci and their nurses and staff saved our daughter's life. The best words to describe Dr. Harrison, Dr. Hawgood and Dr. Musci are the following: Confident, dedicated, knowledgeable, skilled, sincere, optimistic, stable and kind. They are the kind of guys you just want to give a hug. And when I left I did just that.

Finally, when I think of our time in San Francisco and of all of the wonderful people who helped us along the way, my thoughts are always drawn to the true star who beat all the odds, my daughter Sally Elizabeth Stunkel.