Angel Teal's Story

June 12-Nov. 14, 1998

Teal came to us as a foster placement in August 1998. She was barely 5 pounds and had a Gtube for feeding. A VP shunt had been placed to drain fluid from her head. She had been born premature and was diagnosed as hydranencephalic. She was a beautiful little girl. Our family was so excited about her and grew to love her very much.

In November she was hospitalized with an infection somewhere. After much testing she was found to need a shunt revision, which is not unusual. Before plans could be made for treatment the worker from the county she was from went to a judge and had a Do Not Treat or resuscitate order signed. Our hands were tied....

We took Teal home and held her and watched her die over a 2 week period. That was a very hard thing to do ....It was a hard thing ..no an impossible thing to justify. She could have died while having surgery but at least we would have tried to give her the help that was available.  Having 2 adopted daughters with this diagnosis and knowing the joy they have been, I knew I was not willing to give up on Teal. Elizabeth was 4 years old at that time and our daughter Melissa had died in 1997 at 15.5 years of age. We feel that many who are in decision making positions do not value the lives of a hydranencephalic child.

We are thankful for the time we had with her and wanted to recognize her life by sharing her story.