Saving Little Hearts

Ashley Marie Borst was born July 25, 2000 in Searcy, Ar. She was a full- term pregnancy, and was pretty and pink when she took her first breath. The doctor's didn't not know what was wrong, but her oxygen level was lower than they wanted it to be. So they wanted to take her to Little Rock for some test to make sure nothing was wrong. My husband and I were not scared yet, because we did not know anything. But when we made it to the hospital, they dropped a bomb on us. They found that her left side of her heart did not fully develop they called it hypo-left heart syndrome. They also told us that she was born without the membrane between her brain. Agenesis corpus callosum. Here we are with our first born child, and we did not know if she was going to live. They moved us over to Arkansas Children's hospital where we found hope. They explained more about the ACC and what to except, and the doctor's told us we had options to fix her heart. One, have a three part procedure to re-route her heart, have a heart transplant, or three do nothing and just take her home. Well the third was not an option for us. And we were not sure about a transplant. So we decided on the first option. But there was a down fall to that option. She would have to have three open-heart surgeries. And at that time they were sending their babies out to other hospitals because they did not have a head surgeon. So we flew to Cleveland , Ohio. And there at two weeks old she had the first stage Norwood procedure. She did very well. And after a week, we came back to ACH for recovery. We brought our baby girl home for the first time when she was four weeks old. And we were a little scared because not only was she our first born, but a newborn who just had a major heart surgery. But my husband and I made it through and got used to the medicine she had to take. It was not long before is was time for surgery number two. It took place at our Children's hospital because the surgeon, who performed her first surgery transferred to ACH. Ashely was 5 1/2 months old, when she had her second heart surgery. For me it was harder this time because we had her home for those months, and I didn't not want to give her up. The surgery went as planned, but this time she stayed on the ventilator for seven long days. But after that she did just fine, and we came home 3 1/2 weeks later. Ashley's third procedure, was May 16, 2006. We have been home a little over two weeks now. And she is doing great. Her surgery went as plan, but we did have a set back with fluid around her heart and lungs two weeks after surgery. We were getting close to going home when they discovered the fluid. So she had to have two drainage tubes put back in to pull the fluid off her lungs, and have surgery again to insert a tube to pull fluid off her heart. This was very hard for us too watch her have to go through that again. But with many prayers she had the tubes for a week and then they were removed. But that was not the only set back. She developed an infection from one of her tubes and had to be put on antibiotic's. This last surgery was very difficult because Ashley was older and more aware of what was going on. I had a hard time watching Ashley go through these major surgeries. And in the back of my mind I questioned if we were doing the right thing. But over the years, I realized it was never up too me. God always had control. And when I came to see that, it made all of this worthwhile. We have a beautiful little girl, who loves music and swimming. And I would not trade the memories we have made or future ones for anything in the world. I hope by sharing Ashley's story, that parents see that they are not alone. And that with faith there is a bright shinning light at the end of tunnel.

Rachell Borst

Searcy, Arkansas