Charlie's Story

Feb. 20, 2006 — -- Everyone loves a happy ending, but sometimes the details of the lives of babies in the NICU are never-ending.

For 3-month-old Charlie Ginter, the story is 111 days and counting, as he gets air transferred into his lungs through a tracheotomy tube into his throat.

Charlie's dad, Phil, is a carpenter and spends the nights with his son, who must wear soft cuffs on his little hands so he can't yank the tube out. Sometimes, though, Phil just wants to give him a break and gently uncuffs the restraints on his son's wrist.

Charlie's mom, Janet, does the day shifts. She's a teacher who hasn't taught a single class since before Thanksgiving and said for now there's "no end in sight" to her son's stay in the neonatal intensive care unit.

If you'd like to get in touch with Charlie Gitner's family go to: charliesangelscare.com.

"The truth is, Charlie may never be able to breathe on his own," said pediatric surgeon Mark Arkovitz. "The musculature we use for breathing, including the diaphragm, much of it's missing in Charlie who was born … with many of his internal organs twisted out of place under the skin."

His parents knew about his condition before he was born, and for the briefest moment, Janet says she and Phil considered terminating the pregnancy but it would have gone against their beliefs.

"I told them that he would probably live," said Arkovitz. "And the family elected to continue with the pregnancy."

"He felt like he had a good chance, like his head was growing good. Everything was going well," said Janet. "We felt we had to give it a shot."

And so they saved Charlie from death at birth, and in a series of amazing surgeries, relocated his misplaced organs closer to where they are supposed to be.

For now, the machine can do his breathing. But no one knows if there will come a day when Charlie can breathe on his own.

It's one of the thorniest problems in the NICU --