A 2-year-old Oklahoma boy who authorities said spent much of his life in a hospital finally gets to go home for Christmas.Casen Hazlewood of Ponca City was born May 6, 2019, at just 26 weeks gestation. His mother said in an Integris Hospital news release that Casen and his identical twin brother, Hudson, had issues from the beginning.”They were diagnosed early on with what’s called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, where one of the babies gets more blood and nutrients than the other,” Kari Hazlewood said. “In our case, Hudson was the dominant twin leaving Casen malnourished.”Casen and Hudson each weighed barely over a pound when they were born, and the news release said Hudson was seemingly healthy considering his size. Casen struggled to survive.”Casen is a fighter. He has been battling something since before he was even born,” Kari said. “He may be tiny but he’s as tough as they come.”Experts determined that Casen had an intrauterine growth restriction, which causes unequal placental sharing between the twins. Casen was noticeably smaller than his brother.Sadly and unexpectedly, Hudson died 12 days after birth after he developed an infection. His parent’s feared the worse when Casen developed the same infection, but he pulled through.Casen spent the first 154 days of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit.”He was born in May and we finally got to take him home in October 2019. We were home for six days when he suddenly stopped breathing and we had to rush him back to the hospital. This would, unfortunately, become our routine,” Kari said.His mom says that each time Casen gets a mild cold or runs even a low-grade fever, he undoubtedly ends up back in the hospital.”Since his lungs aren’t fully developed, he has a lot of respiratory issues and goes downhill fast, so at the first sign of sickness, we just start heading to Integris Children’s. They are like our second family. We have spent so much time there. They all treat Casen as if he is their own child,” Kari said.The doctors are hopeful that Casen will grow out of his frequent hospital visits as his lungs develop.The staff at the pediatric intensive care unit at Integris Baptist Medical Center held a bubble send-off for Casen at the end of his last hospitalization, signifying the 177 days he has spent in the PICU overtime.”We just love Kari and Donnie and the entire Hazlewood family and wanted to do something really special for them,” said Erica Liddell, a certified child life specialist at Integris Children’s. “In all, between the NICU and the PICU and the 14 surgeries he’s endured, Casen has spent almost an entire year in the hospital. That’s half of his little life. So, we wanted to celebrate him in a big way.”Casen’s send-off happened just in time for the holidays, which also included his big sister Brynlee. The Hazelwoods said that their Christmas wish is to keep Casen healthy and at home.”As much as we love the folks at Integris Children’s and want them to continue to be a part of Casen’s life,” Kari said. “We are hoping to see them less often in the new year! We want to see them socially, not just when Casen is sick.”
A 2-year-old Oklahoma boy who authorities said spent much of his life in a hospital finally gets to go home for Christmas.
Casen Hazlewood of Ponca City was born May 6, 2019, at just 26 weeks gestation. His mother said in an Integris Hospital news release that Casen and his identical twin brother, Hudson, had issues from the beginning.
“They were diagnosed early on with what’s called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, where one of the babies gets more blood and nutrients than the other,” Kari Hazlewood said. “In our case, Hudson was the dominant twin leaving Casen malnourished.”
Casen and Hudson each weighed barely over a pound when they were born, and the news release said Hudson was seemingly healthy considering his size. Casen struggled to survive.
“Casen is a fighter. He has been battling something since before he was even born,” Kari said. “He may be tiny but he’s as tough as they come.”
Experts determined that Casen had an intrauterine growth restriction, which causes unequal placental sharing between the twins. Casen was noticeably smaller than his brother.
Sadly and unexpectedly, Hudson died 12 days after birth after he developed an infection. His parent’s feared the worse when Casen developed the same infection, but he pulled through.
Casen spent the first 154 days of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit.
“He was born in May and we finally got to take him home in October 2019. We were home for six days when he suddenly stopped breathing and we had to rush him back to the hospital. This would, unfortunately, become our routine,” Kari said.
His mom says that each time Casen gets a mild cold or runs even a low-grade fever, he undoubtedly ends up back in the hospital.
“Since his lungs aren’t fully developed, he has a lot of respiratory issues and goes downhill fast, so at the first sign of sickness, we just start heading to Integris Children’s. They are like our second family. We have spent so much time there. They all treat Casen as if he is their own child,” Kari said.
The doctors are hopeful that Casen will grow out of his frequent hospital visits as his lungs develop.
The staff at the pediatric intensive care unit at Integris Baptist Medical Center held a bubble send-off for Casen at the end of his last hospitalization, signifying the 177 days he has spent in the PICU overtime.
“We just love Kari and Donnie and the entire Hazlewood family and wanted to do something really special for them,” said Erica Liddell, a certified child life specialist at Integris Children’s. “In all, between the NICU and the PICU and the 14 surgeries he’s endured, Casen has spent almost an entire year in the hospital. That’s half of his little life. So, we wanted to celebrate him in a big way.”
Casen’s send-off happened just in time for the holidays, which also included his big sister Brynlee. The Hazelwoods said that their Christmas wish is to keep Casen healthy and at home.
“As much as we love the folks at Integris Children’s and want them to continue to be a part of Casen’s life,” Kari said. “We are hoping to see them less often in the new year! We want to see them socially, not just when Casen is sick.”