By KELLY WILSON
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
Rome and Tiffany Frericks lost their infant son, Cadan Christopher, to complications related to a birth defect called congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
Little is known about the birth defect, although it is more common than spina bifida, muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, affecting one in every 2,000 babies in the U.S. every year, nearly half of whom don't live to see their first birthday.
The Quincy couple wants to help change the statistics.
A fundraiser -- Cadan's Halloween Carnival for CDH -- will take place Sunday with proceeds benefiting CDH research being performed by Dr. Brad Warner at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
"They are grasping at straws trying to keep these babies alive," Tiffany Frericks said. "They are doing anything and everything they can do, but very little of it is backed by research and there is little to no consensus in the medical community on how to treat these babies because there just isn't enough funding for good research."
Warner was the physician for Cadan, who was born Nov. 24 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and died when he was just 12 days old on Dec. 6.
CDH occurs when the diaphragm does not fully form and allows abdominal organs to enter the chest cavity. This can prevent the lungs from growing normally.
"We hope that Dr. Warner's research will help," Tiffany Frericks said. "After Dr. Warner met with us to explain Cadan's autopsy, I gave him a hug and told him that my hope was in him to do something about this, to change the statistic that only 50 percent of these babies will live to see their first birthday.
"It is a cruel, horrible birth defect that is too common and yet is such a mystery in too many ways."
Frericks also hopes that events focusing on CDH, like Cadan's Halloween Carnival, will help build awareness about the birth defect.
"When families in this area get the diagnosis, I want them to know that they are not alone," she said. "I don't want them to spend endless days searching and crying, desperate for answers about this horrible birth defect."
-- kwilson@whig.com/221-3391
