{"id":5837,"date":"2025-01-02T16:49:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T16:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/?p=5837"},"modified":"2025-01-02T16:49:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T16:49:49","slug":"my-baby-son-was-born-with-a-cyst-the-size-of-a-football-under-his-arm-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/archives\/5837","title":{"rendered":"My baby son was born with a cyst the size of a football under his arm"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A MUM has revealed how her baby was born with a cyst the size of a football under his arm \u2013 which left the limb at a 90 degree angle.\n

His mum Christina DiMartino, 34, was told her unborn son, Matteo, had an abnormally large mass located across his chest and left arm, which covered up to 50 per cent of his body, after going for a routine scan at 13 weeks.\n

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Matteo was born with a cyst under his arm the size of a football\n

The tot was found to have a rare lymphatic malformation \u2013 and medics warned he had just a nine per cent chance of making it to birth.\n

First-time parents Christina and her husband, Franco, 36, an electrician for the Long Island Railroad, in the US, decided not to terminate the pregnancy, but to give their little boy a chance \u2013 and their son was born via emergency c-section on 7.17pm on April 17, 2019.\n

Matteo tipped the scales at 9lbs 3oz, but it\u2019s thought 3lbs of that \u2013 one third of his body weight \u2013 was down to the huge\u00a0cyst\u00a0which covered his side up to his armpit.\n

It meant the newborn struggled to move his neck and head, couldn\u2019t roll over, sit up, fit into a car seat or\u00a0baby\u00a0clothes, and also left him suffering from frequent skin infections.\n

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Franco and Christina DiMartino decided to keep son Matteo after warnings from doctors at a 13-week scan\n

At six months old in October last year, Matteo was operated on by a team of specialists at Cohen Children\u2019s Medical Center in New York to have the\u00a0cyst\u00a0removed.\n

He is now a\u00a0happy 10-month-old with a bright future, but will need to be monitored as he grows older.\n

Christina, a special education science teacher from Long Island, said: \u201cWe are so proud of Matteo and all he\u2019s been through.\n

\u201cHe\u2019s defied all the odds to not only survive but to thrive. We knew he was going to be born with a huge\u00a0cyst, but even we were surprised when we saw it for the first time.\n

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Specialists told the first-time parents that he had a lower chance of making it to birth\n

\u201cDespite all of the treatment and operations he\u2019s been through, Matteo is such a happy\u00a0baby.\n

\u201cHe is now meeting and surpassing milestones for his age. He\u2019s now pulling himself up to stand, crawling, eating foods with his fingers and saying \u2018mama\u2019 \u2013 we couldn\u2019t love him anymore if we tried.\u201d\n

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It was crippling. It was absolutely the worst days of our lives. I felt like I was going to have a nervous breakdown\n

Christina DiMartino34\n\n\n

Christina and Franco were over-the-moon to discover they were expecting a\u00a0baby after trying to start a family for a long time.\n

She said: \u201cI found out that I was pregnant two days before Franco got a new job so it all seemed \u2018meant to be\u2019.\u201d\n

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However, Matteo was born in April 2019\n

But the couple\u2019s blissful bubble burst at 13-and-a-half weeks when Christina and Franco were told their\u00a0baby\u00a0had a \u201ccystic hygroma\u201d at a routine scan.\n

She said: \u201cI thought: \u2018A\u00a0cyst? How bad can a\u00a0cyst\u00a0be? I guess the\u00a0baby\u00a0will have to get it removed?\u2019 But the doctor told me that it was a bit more complicated than that and showed me the scan.\n

\u201cThe\u00a0cyst\u00a0was already about the size of the\u00a0baby\u2019s head at this point \u2013 at 13-and-a-half weeks. It was located under his left arm, in the armpit region.\n

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The parents were still shocked when they met their newborn for the first time\n

\u201cShe said there was only a nine per cent chance the\u00a0baby\u00a0would make it, and there was a 75 per cent chance that it would be a chromosomal disorder.\n

\u201cIt was crippling. It was absolutely the worst days of our lives and it was so hard trying to be calm and not stress for the\u00a0baby.\n

\u201cI felt I was going to have a nervous breakdown.\u00a0We knew how hard it was to conceive so we decided to stick it out because we would handle whatever God\u2019s plan had set out for us.\n

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They had to come up with special clothing for their little one\n

\u201cThe doctor then presented me with my options which were termination or chorionic villus sampling \u2013 that would involve inserting a needle into the placenta to collect fluid which would diagnose a chromosomal abnormality or disorder.\u201d\n

Christina had two tests for chromosomal disorders, both of which came back negative within a month.\n

She said: \u201cIt was a good feeling. I knew with all these results that the chance of him being born healthy was good.\u201d\n

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He learnt to move on his left side\n

But research into their son\u2019s condition left Christina and Franco feeling worse.\n

She said: \u201cI felt worse seeing all the statistics. It was debilitating to say the least.\n

\u201cI had one week of excitement of my pregnancy, and that was then on until the birth \u2013 it was sad. I actually felt sorry for myself.\u201d\n

Christina had regular hospital appointments, weekly at first, building up to three times-a-week from 32 weeks.\n

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Matteo was in and out of hospital due to frequent infections\n

She said: \u201cThe\u00a0cyst\u00a0consistently grew. It started growing more rapidly than he was and became the size of his chest.\n

\u201cHis arm was also now involved and stuck in a 90 degree angle inside the womb.\n

\u201cThough, each test came back in our favour \u2013 even the heart exam showed zero defects which surprised us all.\u201d\"\"\n

In October, he had an operation to remove the cyst\n

Christina was then told she would need to have an emergency C-section.\n

She said: \u201cI went into hospital and assumed it was just for observation, but the doctor told me I would have the\u00a0baby\u00a0that day because he thought he may have seen a little fluid in the\u00a0baby\u2019s cheeks. It turned out to be chubby cheeks!\n

\u201cHe drained 500ml of the\u00a0cyst\u2019s fluid after the spinal tap, to make sure he would fit out of my belly.\n

\u201cThen Matteo was born, we called him that because it means \u2018gift of God\u2019.\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get to hold my\u00a0baby, they whisked him out immediately for assessment and I only saw a glimpse of his little face on the way out the door.\n

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Christina said she had to carry her baby \u2018like a spatula\u2019\n

\u201cHe was breathing on his own and surprised doctors that he needed no medical intervention. They were prepared with 24 nurses and doctors in the delivery room.\u201d\n

Despite knowing their little boy had a huge\u00a0cyst, Christina and Franco were still shocked when they saw their newborn\u00a0baby\u00a0for the first time.\n

Christina said:\u00a0\u201cOne thing we could not have prepared for was the open lesion on Matteo\u2019s\u00a0cyst \u2013 no-one can figure out how that happened.\n

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Matteo had chemotherapy to reduce the size of the cyst before his operation\n
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\u201cIt had deep tight wrinkles skin, all over the\u00a0cyst\u00a0as well, like a wrinkly weird-brain-like skin. It was huge! His arm was up and not extremely mobile. I was scared to say the least.\n

\u201cIt was such a shock to see the\u00a0cyst\u00a0in real life and was much bigger than the scans made it out to be. It was almost as if there were two chests connected to one another.\u201d\n

Matteo remained in NICU for two weeks, before he was allowed home.\n

Christina said:\u00a0\u201cI didn\u2019t know what to do when it was time to leave the hospital.\u00a0I had to hold my\u00a0baby\u00a0differently to most mums, like a spatula.\n

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He is now a happy eleven-month-old\n

\u201cClothes couldn\u2019t fit him. He had to eat at certain angles to make sure the weight of the\u00a0cyst\u00a0wouldn\u2019t block his airway and I was scared. I was honestly terrified to love Matteo.\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know at that point how serious it was really going to be or if this was life-threatening. I felt guilty.\u00a0It was the scariest feeling ever. Before long, his beautiful face made me succumb and my love grew.\u201d\n

However, Matteo developed severe cellulitis and infections.\n

Christina explained: \u201cHe was hospitalised several times and sometimes we would be there for weeks at a time.\n

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However, he is likely to need operations in the future\n

\u201cThroughout these bouts of infections, he would be on strong IV antibiotics and would have a PICC line put into place.\n

\u201cThe first and longest hospital visit was when he was only one-and-a-half months old.\n

\u201cDuring this stay his vascular specialist strongly recommended we start\u00a0a form of chemotherapy.\n

\u201cAfter seeing how his whole body swelled up and activated new\u00a0cystic\u00a0areas, we decided it was going to be worth a try. It definitely wound up helping shrink the\u00a0cyst\u00a0\u2013 leading up to surgery.\u201d\n

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The parents are grateful to their medical team\n
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But before surgery Matteo\u2019s\u00a0cyst\u00a0was so large, it prevented him from wearing normal clothes \u2013 many of which had to be altered.\n

Christina said:\u00a0\u201cHe was in six month clothes from birth. He couldn\u2019t sit up without the\u00a0cyst\u00a0being propped up. He couldn\u2019t be picked up normally.\n

\u201cHis arm had very limited range of motion. His head stayed turned in one direction due to the arm.\n

\u201cHis balance was completely off. His rolling over and sitting up were delayed until after the surgery. There would be no way of crawling had we not done the surgery.\u201d\n

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I was honestly terrified to love Matteo. I didn\u2019t know if his condition would be life threatening\n

Christina DiMartino34\n\n\n

At six months old, Matteo had his first surgery in an eight-hour op.\n

Christina said: \u201cThey also were able to remove all of the wrinkled skin and open lesion, along with his left nipple that was in there.\n

\u201cWe predict the\u00a0cyst\u00a0was upward of 3lbs at birth \u2013 one third of his total weight.\n

\u201cThe\u00a0cyst\u00a0was much smaller at removal, due to the medicine Matteo had been on. It was also draining often at home and would leak a litre of lymphatic fluid all over my house.\u201d\n

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It was such a shock to see the cyst in real life and was much bigger than the scans made it out to be. It was almost as if there were two chests connected to one another\n

Christina DiMartino34\n\n\n

Three months on, Matteo\u2019s scars are beginning to heal and fade.\n

Christina said: \u201cI think the surgery was worse for Franco and I actually. He was out of it mostly for the first two days after surgery and then the third day he woke up smiling and his usual self.\n

\u201cWe have noticed such a difference in our boy! He was sitting up and holding up his body just days after we got home.\u00a0It was so emotional for us.\n

\u201cA day after his last drain was out, he was rolling back and forth.\u00a0He was happier than usual and this made us realise how truly uncomfortable he must have really been.\n

\u201cNow, at 10 months, Matteo is meeting and surpassing his milestones. He is receiving physical therapy three times a week and his little arm is fully functional.\n

\u201cHe also has had no more infections since surgery.\u00a0He does receive infusions monthly but most of his blood work is now within normal range.\u201d\n

Matteo still has other growths on his body, with his mum admitting: \u201cThey may need to be removed but it\u2019s likely they will return \u2013 possibly with a vengeance.\u201d\n

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Of the future, she added: \u201cWe just don\u2019t want him to get made fun of because he has lumps or a big arm, we don\u2019t want him to have a complex, we don\u2019t want him to have any limitations \u2013 it\u2019s hard to think about all the \u2018what-ifs\u2019.\u201d\n

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A MUM has revealed how her baby was born with a cyst the size of a football under his arm \u2013 which left the limb at a 90 degree angle. His mum Christina DiMartino, 34, was told her unborn son, Matteo, had an abnormally large mass located across his chest and left arm, which covered […]\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5839,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837\/revisions\/5839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/momentsunfolded.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}