Miracle Monday: At Children’s Hospital, ‘he’s had the best care’

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - July is National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month. The Children’s Hospital of Georgia has a specialized team working with the smallest of patients up to those age 21.

Among them is Christian Murphey, who acts just like any 4-year-old would.

“He appears to be outgoing and likes to do all things boy,” said his mom, Brittany Murphey.

What you probably wouldn’t have known is that Christian was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. That’s when a baby’s lip or mouth doesn’t form completely during pregnancy.

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His mom found this out at her 20-week ultrasound.

“I think we were in shock,” she said. “I know I recall us going back and sitting in the waiting room and looking things up because we don’t have any family history of it, so, it wasn’t anything that we were really familiar with.”

She said when she delivered at her previous hospital, they said this was the most severe case they had ever seen. At 3 days old, Christian was transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia. His dad, Stephen Murphey, said once they arrived, the doctors laid out a detailed timeline of what to expect now, all the way up to when Christian turns 18.

“This has been an incredible team here and I would highly recommend this hospital to anybody and children that face anything like that,” said Stephen Murphey. “These doctors know what they’re doing. He’s been in the greatest hands and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s had the best care here.”

The Murpheys spent about five days at CHOG.

“They ended up getting him on a feeding tube and getting him on a feeding plan,” said Brittany Murphey. “We were able to bottle feed some, so some of the things we weren’t able to accomplish they were able to help get started.”

Christian has had three surgical procedures, including a lip repair at 6 months old that included a set of ear tubes, and his palate repair, which fixed the roof of his mouth at 11 months old.

“So, I recall one of the doctors in particular saying to me like, ‘Hey, mom,. you’re doing a good job,’” said Brittany Murphey. “It was honestly like one of the first times anybody had said that, and it did make me feel like we were doing a good job and the best we could do for Christian.”

She said having this hospital here has been priceless.

“If Children’s Hospital didn’t have the cleft team here, we would have to travel, I think the closest is Atlanta, so, you would be looking at a three-hour drive,” she said. “So, the that the community gives the hospital is everything, I think, to the family of the patients.”

Stephen Murphey said: “They’ve always had a smile on their face and always have been wonderful toward us and I know toward other families, and I just want to say thank you.”

Christian now comes to the hospital once a year where he meets with the cleft clinic team. That includes orthodontists, speech therapists, plastic surgeons, and ear, nose and throat doctors.

If you would like to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia in all they do and help families like the Murpheys’ you can donate at https://www.augustahealth.org/give/childrens/.

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