My parents need your help!

 UPDATE  regarding baby Wyatt’s heart. 

Wyatt received a heart transplant after waiting for 6 months on the list, and 233 days and counting inpatient. He is doing tremendously great and anticipated discharge will be soon as long as things go well. We can’t thank the donor family and his team of providers enough for giving our son a second chance at life . As his parents we made a huge sacrifice to be as present as possible at his bedside since he was born (May 17th,2023). No matter how much planning , and even getting a loan, not being able to work since then has been financially hard. The hospital bills keep coming as well as normal everyday bills . We are soooooo thankful Wyatt received a transplant however , it’s still a very huge commitment especially in the first few months with constant outpatient appointments, labs, medications and so forth . We are kindly asking yet again , for your generosity however small , to help us get right back on our feet. 

Maryanne is an amazing nurse and friend to so many. She went through so much just to conceive and carry Wyatt and then was faced with this news about his health. We miss her at work but know Wyatt needs her more. Please help her keep her health insurance active to allow Wyatt to receive the care he needs. We love you MaryAnne! Read her story below.

Wyatt was diagnosed at 22 weeks during a routine anatomy scan with Congenital heart defect called Pulmonary Atresia with intact ventricular septum, ASD, tricuspid atresia, and right ventricle coronary circulation dependent sinusoids (PA IVS w/RVDCC). What this means is Wyatt was born with “half a heart” or half fully functioning side and half a side that was under developed.

Kids like Wyatt normally follow palliation pathway of 3 surgeries to reroute the heart circulation as they grow and Wyatt underwent the first stage at 6 days old by placing a stent on his PDA and stoping PGE infusion that was keeping his PDA open since birth. He recovered well and was extubated (removal of breathing tube) 4 days after surgery.

At 4 weeks old, his ICU team recognized that due to his right ventricle dependent coronary circulation sinusoids, his heart was not receiving enough oxygen and causing ischemia (troponin leaks). The team acted quickly by reaching out to other hospitals to see if there was any data with children similar to his physiology who had success in placing a VAD ( Ventricular assisting device ) and were transplanted and healthy .

At 5 weeks old he had an 8 hr bypass open heart surgery to place two cannulas that would reroute his circulation and act as his right ventricle and connection to his aorta to supply the rest of his body. Wyatt became the youngest patient at Phoenix Children with a Berlin Heart as a bridge to transplant.

A new heart for Wyatt gives him the best shot at life because he is very young and does not have antibodies that would reject a new heart.

While Wyatt is making progress, babies are not able to leave the hospital with a VAD while they wait for their new heart as adults can. Wyatt has to remain in-patient until he receives his perfect heart. He is listed as status 1A which places him at the highest level. In order for him to remain on the list and receive his heart. Wyatt has to maintain his insurance that approved his evaluation and listing . As his parents, we are with him 24/7 making it difficult to work to maintain his insurance. We are more than grateful for any help that we receive as we wait for Wyatt to recover and come home.