Mission at Work: Andrea Bender

My name is Andrea Bender and I am a Research Technician at Charles River’s Preclinical location in Spencerville, Ohio. On August 5^th, 2009, I gave birth to my first child, a boy, Roan W. Bender. He was born at 30 weeks, weighing under four pounds. He was so small that he was required to stay in an incubator for a month at the OSU Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio before being transferred to a local hospital in Lima, Ohio, St. Rita’s Medical Center.

While in Columbus, the doctors discovered Roan was struggling to breathe on his own and put him on a sleep apnea machine while also administering a daily dose of caffeine to keep him going.  After his breathing improved, he was transferred to Lima where the doctors discovered he was also suffering from acid reflux and consequently was having difficulty putting on weight. They immediately placed Roan on a BID treatment of Prilosec, and thankfully he began to gain weight. Once Roan reached 5 lbs, I was finally able to bring him home after spending over a month in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at two different hospitals. He continued on the sleep apnea machine plus his caffeine dosage and the BID treatment of Prilosec for another three months until he was finally able to keep food down and breathe on his own.

I am so thankful for the doctors who helped my son and for the medications that were available to help him grow into a healthy baby boy. Without them, I may never have been able to bring Roan home.

-Andrea Bender, Research Technician II, Spencerville, Ohio