Born: March 26 , 2003
Illness: Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
Quilt Deadline: May 1, 2011
Theme of Quilt: Kids Being Kids
When I was five months pregnant we had an ultrasound done to check his heart, because I had had open heart surgery as a child. When the doctor did the ultrasound he found that Andrews heart was not growing properly. The doctor then sent us to a pediatric cardiologist who confirmed Andrew had hyploplastic left heart syndrome. We left Ky in February of 2003 to go to Michigan to deliver our son so he could have the best medical care available. Andrew was born on March 26 2003 and he looked perfect. He weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 21 inches long. At five days old Andrew under went his first of three open heart surgeries. Dr Bove had a hard time bringing Andrew back, he kept crashing so Dr. Bove put Andrew on life support. He was on life support for 3 days and his little body began to get stronger and stronger. When he was taken off ECMO his recovery was amazing. We soon took him home to KY for all our family to see. In October of 2003 we would head back to Michigan for Andrews 2 surgery. This surgery was a success and two weeks later we were heading home. This time being home was not as great. Andrew stayed very ill and could not keep anything down. He kept vomiting and diarrhea. I took him to the emergency room three nights in a row and they did nothing for him. When Monday came around I took him to his pediatrician who took one glance at him and said get this child to the emergency room he is almost dead. Andrew was then airlifted to Cincinattis Childrens Hospital where we stayed for the next month. There he was put on the heart transplant list. With the grace of GOD he recovered and a transplant was not needed. When Andrew turned two in 2005 we headed back to Michigan for his third surgery. Everything went well again, and we headed back home in ten days. This time Andrew recovered very well. Since his third surgery Andrew has gone into tachycardia several times and has been put to sleep and his heart shocked back into rhythm. He is doing ok now and we just returned home from his Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World.
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