How brave Reuben is kept alive by Viagra: Wonder drug fights lung condition



Reuben Paxton takes viagra four times a day to keep his lungs working

He had to undergo a life-saving seven-hour operation to move his organs



Mrs Paxton said: 'He's a tough little cookie'

In safe hands: Reuben Paxton, from Kelso, Roxburghshire, being held by his three-year-old sister Melissa

He had only a 50-50 chance of surviving birth but now little Reuben Paxton is being kept alive by a very special drug – Viagra.



The five-month-old was born with his stomach, intestines and part of his liver inside his chest, leaving no room for his tiny lungs to develop.



His heart, which has a hole in it, was also pushed to the wrong side and he has problems with the flow of blood to his lungs.



Reuben underwent a life-saving seven-hour operation to correct the position of his organs when he was only four days old. He then spent three months in hospital, clinging to life.



Now he is back home with his parents and is winning his battle for survival thanks to sildenafil, better known as the impotence drug Viagra.



His mother, Dawn, 33, from Kelso, Roxburghshire, said: ‘Reuben has pulmonary hypertension and the drug helps to widen the [blood] vessels going into the lungs so the blood can flow better.



‘He gets it four times a day. If he didn’t take it, his lungs would be compromised and wouldn’t function as well and he wouldn’t get enough oxygen going around his body.’



Mrs Paxton was given the devastating news that her son had a congenital diaphragmatic hernia – a hole in the abdominal wall – when she was only 20 weeks pregnant, the same time she lost a baby only a year earlier.



For the rest of her pregnancy, she and husband, Darren, 34, undertook round trips of almost 200 miles to hospital in Glasgow every four weeks to monitor their unborn child. Half of all babies with the condition die before they are born.

The couple were warned that even if the child survived birth, there was a risk he might not live more than a couple of hours. Mrs Paxton said: ‘We were told that if he survived the first 24 hours, the outcome would look better, but in particular they said the first two hours were critical.’

To add to the complications, the umbilical cord became wrapped around Reuben’s neck.

Pulling together: Reuben, who was born with his stomach in his chest, with his mother Dawn, father Darren and sister Melissa

Despite this and the fact his lungs were not fully developed, the 6lb 8oz newborn was breathing well enough for doctors to let his parents see him before he was whisked away and placed on a ventilator.



Mrs Paxton, who is also mother to Melissa, three, said: ‘He’s a tough little cookie. All the way through the pregnancy we were told there were no guarantees that he would survive past birth.



‘But he breathed a little bit on his own before they put him on the ventilator, so that was a bit of a relief.



‘I got to see him for a few seconds. We were still very worried at that point but I noticed he had the longest, curliest eyelashes.’



Reuben was born at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow on March 1, a week before his due date.



His life-threatening condition affects only 2,500 babies.



A hole in Reuben’s abdomen wall allowed his stomach, bowel and part of his liver to form inside his chest.



This pushed his heart out of position and left no room for his lungs to grow, resulting in one being only a quarter of the size it should be.



The five-month-old, who spent three weeks on a ventilator, a further five weeks on other breathing aids and battled repeated infections, was finally allowed home after 12 weeks.



It was a day his father feared he would never see.



But Mrs Paxton did not have any similar doubts. She said: ‘I never for one moment thought we’d never get him home.’



Initially when he came home, Reuben was on eight different drugs.



But now he only receives Viagra pills four times a day, two anti-reflux tablets and an iron supplement to help transport oxygen around his body.



He is still tube fed when he sleeps at night to ensure that he continues to put on weight.



And he receives regular check-ups at the hospital to monitor his progress and the hole in his heart.



Mrs Paxton said: ‘It is amazing to be the four of us as a family. It was really hard being away from my daughter.



‘He’s certainly put us through it, but it’s been worth it.



‘I wouldn’t change him for the world and his big sister loves him to pieces.

