Proud OF EVERY Scar by Diane Ciarloni | photos courtesy of Kimberly Gastineau
T
ry writing a children’s book titled My Gastrostomy Tube. But don’t try to say it or write about it until you’ve experienced the painful reality of your child being diagnosed with it.
Kimberly and Tyler Gastineau, Argyle residents, enjoyed a normal, relatively uneventful pregnancy with daughter Carli. The only missing piece being Tyler was deployed in Afghanistan when the actual birth took place.
blood vessel. On a simpler level, Tommy
When Carli was two, the family awaited identical twins Tommy and Jack to join them. Unfortunately, that wait was significantly shorter than it should have been. Doctors discovered the boys suffered from twin-to-twin transmission syndrome, in which they shared a major
Tommy only weighed one pound!
was starving while Jack benefitted from the majority of the nutrients.
The twins were “taken” at 25 weeks. Jack
weighed twice as much as Tommy at birth. That, however, isn’t saying much since “The doctors told me there was only a
25-percent chance they would survive the emergency C-section,” Kim said. “During the surgery, a gastrostomy tube was
sutured to Tommy’s stomach wall. That’s
“We were told Tommy would always be a special needs child,” Kim explained. “He stayed in the hospital the first six months of his life, and I was there with him every day.
“Carli was only two, so I missed a lot of her learning and her ‘first’ this or that. I missed cuddles with her and a lot of the same things with Tommy and Jack. But all three adapted and all three were fighters. Jack was able to stop using his gastrostomy tube two years ago. That doesn’t mean the need may not return but, for now, he’s good.” While Jack didn’t suffer all the ill effects of Tommy, he was still pushed into a game of “catch-up” when it came to things such as
how he would ‘eat.’ They also performed heart surgery at the same time. Tommy’s vocal cord was paralyzed during the
procedure so, even today, he has a very quiet way of speaking.”
Tyler was once again on military duty when all this was happening.
Other than being the size of a tiny puppy, Jack had no major problems. He did
spend some time on a ventilator and
remained in the hospital for four months. 8 | ARGYLE LIVING | DECEMBER 2021
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