Helping a Heart Warrior ❤️

Hi everyone! Our sweet nephew Dean will be undergoing heart surgery in just a couple weeks. If you know Dean, you know he has been a brave and strong fighter since the day he was born! We know this time will not be any different! I’m starting this page to hopefully help them with the medical and travel costs. 

A little about his condition from his mother:

Dean was born with congenital heart disease (CHD) - which means there is an abnormality in the heart that develops before birth - and before the mom even knows she's pregnant.

Dean has 3 heart defects - two large atrial septum defects (ASDs) and pulmonary valve stenosis (PVS). 

Dean's ASDs: He has two large holes in the wall between the upper atriums of his heart. Normally, the left side of the heart only pumps blood to the body, and the right side of the heart only pumps blood to the lungs. Because of the holes in his heart, the blood is going from left to right through the holes, then out into his lung arteries.

Because his ASDs are large, the extra blood being pumped into the lung arteries makes the right side (pumping side) of his heart work harder to get blood to his lungs. All that extra work can make the heart enlarged, cause fluid buildup around the heart, and affect the kidneys - which is called heart failure. 

Dean hasn't been in heart failure for about 2 years now, but he's beginning to show some symtoms consistent with what the beginning stages look like again.

To make matters even more complicated, Dean also has a pulmonary valve defect. So his heart is working extra hard to get blood to his lung arteries, but the pulmonary valve that carries blood to the lungs is too narrow and causes blood to flow to the lungs slowly. 

Over the last year, we noticed little things changing... first, Dean's tolerance for heat, but that seemed pretty normal. Then we noticed he needed to take breaks more and more often when running, riding a scooter, playing soccer, etc. At his most recent appointment, his cardiologist listened to our concerns, did new scans of his heart, and told us that it was time to schedule the surgery he was hoping to put off for another couple of years. The surgery will occur 2 weeks before Dean's 5th birthday.

There are no pediatric cardio surgeons in Idaho, so since we have to travel anyway we decided to go to the #1 pediatric cardiology program in the country. On March 22, Dean will be seen at Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston for more scans. The next day, the surgeon will attempt to "close" the holes in his heart with two devices called "septal occluders" - two sided patches made of wire mesh and fabric. The surgeon said there is a 70% chance that he will be able to successfully place the devices in Dean's heart using a transcatheter - a thin, flexible tube that will start in a blood vessel in his groin and go all the way to his heart to plug up the holes. At the same time, the surgeon will do a balloon valvuloplasty, which means he will inflate a balloon in the narrow pulmonary valve to improve bloodflow. 

The transcatheter procedure is very common in kids with one ASD, but it's not done often when there are multiple defects to repair. We're hoping that it will work because compared to open heart surgery, it's much less invasive, but because it's not common in a situation like this, there is still a chance that Dean will need open heart surgery. If the transcatheter doesnt work, they will take Dean into the OR the following day for surgery. Open heart surgery is more successful, but comes with greater risk of infection, a longer recovery time, and is more painful. 

As if all of this isn't already a lot, we also have COVID to deal with. Normally, both parents can stay in-room with their child for as long as he's inpatient, but the hospital will only allow one parent per 24 hours to be in the hospital. We will be taking turns at the hospital while the other stays at a nearby hotel.

As you can see they will be going through a lot these next few weeks! Please join me in praying over this family and sharing if you can :)