HEARTKIDS
Family Fun & Cup Cake Evening
On 4th June 2013 our eldest daughter Kristie and her partner Stephen blessed us with our beloved grandson
‘Jeffrey Charles’, of course we were all overjoyed! However, the day after he came home, we were concerned that something was not quite right with our gorgeous little man.
That evening Jeffrey would not wake up. Kristie and Stephen rushed to the local hospital in Muswellbrook NSW. Being quite a small hospital with no Pediatrician available he was taken by ambulance to Maitland Hospital.
They where then rushed to the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle who then transferred him to Sydney’s Westmead Children’s Hospital via Care Flight chopper.
We all held our breath with concern.
Jeffrey had been one of the six children born with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) every day.
Equivalent to a Whopping 2000 children every year!
The aortic valve to Jeffrey’s heart was not doing its job and starving his heart of much needed oxygen & blood.
He was placed on Life support. In the day that followed, surgeons tried twice to insert a tiny balloon into Jeffrey’s Aorta to open up the valve.
When that was unsuccessful he was placed on the donor list for an Aortic transplant.
After what seemed like forever ( I think it was about eight days), the doctors said he couldn't wait any longer as his little body was growing weaker.
A virus delayed the first scheduled surgery , and a second virus looked like it was going to delay the next,
but the doctors didn’t want to wait any longer so on 3rd July 2013 at only 29 days old Jeffrey was taken to theater.
I can’t think of any other time in my life that I have felt so helpless and frightened! I know I hadn’t prayed that hard for a long time.
I just wanted to hold Kristie in my arms and tell her everything was going to be alright, but to be honest, I wasn’t sure myself.
Through the grace of God, the wonders of modern medicine and the wonderful surgeons and staff at Westmead Hospital our Jeffrey has just celebrated his first birthday.
The surgeons replaced the Aortic valve with a valve from the base of his heart, and that valve was replaced with a valve crafted out of calf guts.
I know---WOW!!
As our little man grows, his valves will not. Unfortunately this means Jeffrey will have to endure more heart surgery as he matures.
However at this point in time (5th July), Jeffrey is in Maitland hospital suffering Bronchiolitis and Pneumonia.
These would be a real concern for any child, but with our Jeffrey I think we worry just that bit more, 'thinking of you sweetie'.
Hence, why my family have become fund raisers for the Heart Kids Australia.
My partners, who are working equally as hard to get this fundraiser organized are my awesome family:-
Husband Neil, Beautiful daughters Linda and Tanya, and son Travis. Also Tanya’s partner Andrew, who got all the technical jobs, like setting up this web page for us. LOVE YOU ALL!!!
What Is Coarctation?
The aorta is the major blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart to the body. When someone has coarctation of the aorta, the aorta is narrowed at some point.
Here's how a healthy heart and aorta work: Blood that needs oxygen comes from all over the body and enters the right side of the heart, which pumps it to the lungs. The lungs fill the blood with oxygen, and this oxygen-rich blood returns from the lungs to the left side of the heart. The left side of the heart finishes up by pumping the blood out through the aorta. From the aorta, the blood travels through arteries that reach all of the body's organs and tissues, bringing them oxygen. Then the blood returns to the heart through veins and begins the cycle once again.
When part of the aorta is narrowed (this is acoarctation), that defect can affect the body's blood circulation because the left side of the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the narrowed aorta.
Sometimes the narrowing is minor and might not even cause symptoms. In other cases, the aorta is more constricted, placing a strain on the heart's left ventricle (the chamber that pumps blood to the aorta and out to the body).
A coarctation can occur anywhere in the aorta, but most often is found after the point where the arteries that carry blood to the upper body and head branch off from the aorta.
OUR STORY
PS, Jeffrey spent 4 days in hospital with pneumonia, but Kristie says he's doing much better Wheeeeeee :)