Singapore family's global quest to find surgeon for infant son leads to Colorado
Hundreds of families visit Rocky Mountain Children's in Denver every day, but few -- if any -- come from as far away as the Bundgaard family.
"You travelled halfway around the world so that your 1-year-old son could get the care he needs?" CBS Colorado asked.
"Yes, I did," Shan Bundgaard replied with a bright smile.
The family is in Colorado from Singapore, a small country more than 9,000 miles away with only two hospitals for children. They're youngest son, Finn, needed a very specific surgery that is not routinely performed there.
"While I was pregnant, at the 20-week fetal scan, he was diagnosed with a congenital pulmonary airway malformation -- that's CPAM for short," explained Finn's mom. "It's a lung lesion that happens developmentally."
It's a relatively rare condition, affecting about 1 in 25,000 pregnancies. If left untreated, CPAM could lead to breathing complications or even cancer. So Finn's mom went on a global quest to find a physician to help her son.
"I basically just cold emailed everybody for six weeks," Bundgaard said. "I just kept sending emails and hoped to get some responses."
Most of her emails went unanswered, Bundgaard said, or the doctors weren't equipped to perform the surgery she was seeking. In fact, few surgeons around the world can.
"It was like finding a needle in a haystack," Bundgaard said.
Then, her email reached Dr. Steven Rothenberg in Denver.
"As soon as I opened up the email, I checked to see what time it was in Singapore," Dr. Rothenberg said. "And before I went to surgery, I just called her."
It was a phone call that left Bundgaard "floored."
"And that's when I just like, 'Oh my goodness,'" Bundgaard said with a sigh and a smile.
Not only were Bundgaard's prayers answered, but she had also found the doctor considered the pioneer of minimally invasive pediatric surgery.
"Years ago, I started developing minimally invasive techniques to remove those abnormal lungs using tiny instruments," Dr. Rothenberg explained.
Using those techniques, Dr. Rothenberg successfully removed the lesion in Finn's lung, and 75% of his lung was spared using special imaging technology that is new and unique to the hospital. Two days after the two-hour procedure, little Finn was running around.
"Something like this makes your day, your month, your whole year," Dr. Rothenberg said.
And it's made a world of difference for the Bundgaard family.
"Finn is doing so well," his mom said. "Dr. Rothenberg is an incredibly amazing doctor. I think, often times, as a patient or the parent of a patient, you don't feel like you're very seen, heard or validated. Honestly, not once in this journey with Dr. Rothenberg did I feel that way… It's part of what made it feel so right."
Of course, Finn's journey isn't over yet. He and his parents will travel back to Singapore early next week, where he'll receive follow-up care. Plus, Finn's five brothers and sisters are eagerly waiting his return.