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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 21 ,2 01 8 | 40 The first FREE marketing platform for Real-Estate Professionals FREE Member Forum FREE Articles & Guides FREE Referral Directory FREE Marketing Checklists JOIN TODAY! www.agent8.ca It wasn't George Mitro- poulos' first Father's Day, but it was one to be remem- bered. Two years ago, he and his wife Jessica gave birth to their first son Theo and celebrations were put on hold as they spent the following few months at SickKids Hospital in the neonatal intensive care unit. Their son was born with gastroschisis, a condition in which a baby's intestines are outside of the body. Theo required surgery, recovery time and about a month and a half of slowly learning how to eat proper- ly in a separate area of the hospital before he could go home. When the Georgetown couple found out last year that they were pregnant again, doctors assured them it was impossible for their second child to be born with gastroschisis, as the disorder was not genet- ic. But those doctors were wrong. Around the 16-week mark, Mitropoulos said he and Jessica were notified that their second child would be born with the same condition - making their family an anomaly, which shocked doctors and nurses who have been working in the field for de- cades and prompted a new research study. "We were just thinking, 'Wow, how is this happen- ing. How can we relive this nightmare,'" he said. "It was way too much. It was very overwhelming, espe- cially since we were going through such a tough time with our other son with his eating issues." It was a difficult time watching both his sons en- dure the treatments and medication, Mitropoulos said. But he encourages the public to give blood when- ever they can, as their do- nations can help other fam- ilies the same way they helped his. "They were on a lot of morphine and muscle re- laxants, they were eating through intravenous, they had multiple blood trans- fusions - they both had about three to five blood transfusions each," Mitro- poulos said. "But the doc- tors and nurses at SickKids were absolutely amazing and helped us through some tough times." Mitropoulos said when they received the news about his second son, all he and his wife could do was try their best to stay as pos- itive as possible. "We just kept encourag- ing each other and saying, 'Look at our first guy, he got out of the hospital and he's getting stronger every day and it's going to be hard and we don't know how we are going to do it, but we are going to find a way,'" he said. And on Feb. 17, 2018, their son Christian was born. After about two and a half months of being hospi- talized and undergoing the same procedure as his brother, Christian began taking his bottle and was able to go home with his family on April 28. Mitropoulos says he is grateful he got to kick back at home and spend time with his boys this Father's Day. "I'm proud to have two sons that I can enjoy time with," he said. "It makes me happy just seeing the smiles on their faces." COMMUNITY After tough times, dad had both sons home for Father's Day VERONICA APPIA vappia@metroland.com George and Jessica Mitropoulos finally have both their sons at home, after spending many months at SickKids Hospital. Mitropoulos family photo