From 1-Pounder to Liftoff: A Once Micro-Preemie Heads to College

Among the tiniest NICU babies cared for at Stanford Children’s in 2006, this former micro-preemie is now college-bound to study aerospace engineering.

High school graduation is a big day in a student’s life. Flashback 19 years ago—the Varghese family never believed it would be their reality.

Weighing just over 1 pound at birth, today this 5-foot-6 high school graduate is reaching new heights.

Their son, Mikhail George Varghese, one of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford’s smallest surviving babies at birth at the time, recently donned his cap and gown for his high school graduation at Mission High in Fremont.

Rosin Jose and Jojimon Varghese, his parents, struggled to get here. Mikhail was born at just 24 weeks in 2006, weighing only 1 pound, 4 ounces (512 grams)—roughly the weight of a standard-sized can of soup. He was immediately transferred to Packard Children’s Hospital, which his parents say became his early home.

“The nurses, doctors, and a few volunteers became his immediate family, taking care of him when we were not there, beside his incubator, during the first months of his life,” the Varghese family says.

Mikhail was a micro-preemie, the smallest category of premature infants, and he was given minimal chances of survival. Since Mikhail’s hospital stay, there have been significant advances in neonatology. Research from Stanford Medicine shows a significant improvement in survival of babies born at less than 28 weeks, compared with the past.

Babies born this prematurely often have extremely fragile skin, trouble breathing, bleeding in the brain, and an increased risk for eye problems that can lead to blindness, including retinopathy. Mikhail had grade 2 retinopathy, which eventually improved to grade 1 before leaving the hospital.

After spending five months in the neonatal intensive care unit, including three months in an incubator and multiple operations—emergency heart surgery, a procedure to address a perforated intestine, and three hernia surgeries—Mikhail was finally strong enough to be discharged.

During the first year, Mikhail frequently visited the ER due to low immunity and bronchiolitis, an infection of the lungs. He also had strabismus, a misalignment of the eyes, and wore glasses starting at age 3.

Micro-preemies often face long-term health challenges, including developmental issues. Mikhail began walking at age 2 and continued to receive physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy for many years. He struggled with processing speech and social adaptability, displaying minor symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome as well. At age 10 he had surgery to correct his strabismus.

Despite the challenges and the years of bullying he faced due to his special needs, Mikhail has confronted these obstacles with courage.

Today, Mikhail, 19, is headed to college after graduating from high school with a 3.8 GPA, excelling in AP Statistics and Physics, and having taken a graduate-level calculus course at Stanford University. His passion for space and engineering led him to Iowa State University, where he will be studying aerospace engineering this fall.

“Life, with all of its challenges, is worth more than all our bad experiences and the curveballs it throws at each of us,” says the Varghese family. “We cannot change our circumstances, but we can certainly change our attitudes…to choose our own way in the world.”

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford’s neonatology service is ranked No. 5 in the nation and best in the West by U.S. News & World Report .