When Jazmen Ostic was pregnant, she learned that her unborn baby had Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) – a defect where the diaphragm does not close during the baby’s development and abdominal organs push into the chest cavity. From her hometown of Calhoun, Louisiana, Jazmen travelled to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston for an in-utero procedure to correct the CDH and give her unborn son a chance at survival.
Her husband, Robert, stayed behind to take care of the home and their older daughter, while Jazmen and her mother stayed at Holcombe House. The daily routine and community at Holcombe House offered a sense of stability during an uncertain time. Jazmen connected with other families facing similar battles, finding strength in shared stories.
“The meals were really helpful,” Jazmen says. “I just didn’t have the energy or the interest to cook.”
At 34 weeks, Jazmen’s sac ruptured, and she was hospitalized. Her husband arrived in time for the birth of baby Gage on January 13, 2023. Gage was immediately intubated and underwent his first surgery at 4 days.
“I didn’t get to hold him until he was 18 days old because he was hooked up to so many machines,” recalls Jazmen.
This was just the first of many battles for survival that Gage would face. Doctors gave the family a seemingly unending barrage of frightening medical news; Gage also had a heart defect that would require surgery. He needed a tracheostomy to help him breathe. He developed hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain that also required multiple surgeries. His medications caused temporary paralysis, and an ultrasound of his kidneys revealed a tumor (hepoblastoma) on his liver.
“It was like an avalanche,” Jazmen says about the devastating list of medical issues Gage faced. “It was one thing after another.”
Jazmen’s stay at Holcombe House extended indefinitely as Gage was hospitalized and underwent surgeries, treatments, chemotherapy, then resection of his liver to treat the cancer. The exhausted but determined mother spent her days at the hospital and returned to Holcombe House at night. In the midst of the ordeal, Jazmen and Robert were shocked to learn that she was pregnant.
“I wanted more children, but I was terrified,” Jazmen says. “It must have been God’s way of telling me that things would be ok.”
Through each successive medical challenge, Holcombe House was there to support every member of the family. Gage’s journey was unimaginably difficult, but he had strength and resilience that belied his tiny size. On October 31, 2023, Gage was finally able to go home to Louisiana.
Nearly one year later, Jazmen is happy to share Gage’s incredible progress. “He’s mostly off the ventilator, and he is crawling, walking and getting into everything. Especially stealing his baby sister’s binkie!”
The family periodically returns to Houston for Gage’s follow up appointments, where they find the staff and volunteers of Holcombe House, their home away from home, waiting to welcome them.
Ronald McDonald House is a home away from home for families experiencing a pediatric medical crisis. The flagship location at 1907 Holcombe Blvd. in the Texas Medical Center offers wrap-around services and allows families to stay just minutes from their child’s hospital and medical team.