Saving Little Hearts

Max was born on August 29, 2002 at Baptist Hospital. Within hours after birth, a cardiologist, Dr. Thomas Doyle, came into my hospital room and told my husband and me that our pediatrician had detected a heart murmur in our baby and that he would have to be transported by ambulance to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital right away. It felt like my heart had hit the floor. My husband checked me out of the hospital and we met Max at Vanderbilt Hospital.

Because of the Labor Day weekend, Max had to stay in the ICU for 5 days. On September 3, 2002, Max had coarctation of the aorta.

After that, we continued our scheduled cardiologist appointments regularly to make sure that Max was doing well. During one of our doctor’s visits, when Max was 3 years old, the doctor discovered 2 holes in Max’s heart, also, a ridge that was obstructing the blood flow and the possibility that his aortic valve could be missing a flap.

Unfortunately, we knew another surgery was soon to come

At 4 years old, Max was scheduled to have surgery to have the 2 holes repaired, which did not close on their own, and to have the ridge removed. Also the surgeon would determine during surgery, if the aortic valve was missing a flap and what to do about that.

Upon arrival on the day of surgery Max had a cold and the doctor agreed that surgery had to be put off until he was well, which ended up being a grace of God.

Prior to the scheduled surgery, his cardiologist detected an irregular heart rhythm. The doctor then put off the surgery and ordered Max to have a cardioversion and an ablation, which did not help his heart rhythm. Max’s heart was delayed between beats and he had to be monitored constantly.

Within a few months Max had his original scheduled surgery to repair the holes and the ridge. Since his heart was out of rhythm, Max also had to have a pacemaker implanted in the center of his belly. The good news is the aortic valve is normal and has all 3 flaps and that Max is great now.

It has been nearly 2 years since surgery and all routine test results look great!