{"id":259737,"date":"2021-12-24T15:19:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-24T21:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=259737"},"modified":"2021-12-23T17:29:08","modified_gmt":"2021-12-23T23:29:08","slug":"two-year-old-hospital-home-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/two-year-old-hospital-home-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Two-year-old boy who spent half his life in the hospital is home for Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Born prematurely at 26 weeks gestation in May 2019, Casen Hazlewood<\/a> spent the first 154 days of his life outside the womb in the hospital. Since then he has been in and out of the hospital battling respiratory infections. After his last inpatient visit, the medical staff at Integris Baptist Medical Center, held a celebration for him as he went home in time for Christmas.<\/p>\n

Casen’s twin brother Hudson sadly died 12 days after birth due to an infection. The identical twins had battled Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome in the womb, with Casen receiving less blood flow than Hudson due to selective intrauterine growth restriction. The condition can lead to the death of one or both twins, but a risky surgical procedure can be performed to try and save both babies.<\/p>\n

“It is a huge relief to have him home,” his mother Kari Hazlewood told PEOPLE of now-two-year-old Casen. While in the hospital, he underwent 14 surgeries. He spent 154 days in the neonatal intensive care unit, often fighting off infections, and he initially went home in October 2019 but stopped breathing six days later and was once again hospitalized.<\/p>\n