Dalton's Miraculously Long Road in Recovery

My youngest son Dalton was born with his two main arteries switched at birth, a severe narrowing in his pulmonary artery halfway between his heart and his lungs, a hole between the lower two quadrants of his heart, and a valve that was not formed correctly so it couldn’t work properly. His first heart-related procedure was an angioplasty when he was just eight (8) hours old to save his life. Dalton’s first open-heart surgery was right before he turned one (1); his second surgery at eight (8), a third surgery at thirteen years old and a fourth surgery at 21 to install a mechanical valve in his heart.

Aside from these major surgeries, and mostly routine check-ups, Dalton has been living a normal life, working as a professionally trained Chef at Café Juanita until he suffered a devastating heart attack on March 6, 2023. During that heart attack, he aspirated. He also (unknowingly) had Covid. He was heavily sedated for a period which caused significant and serious intestinal blockages. Because of a severe blood infection and Covid, he was on IV antibiotics. The IV antibiotics paired with the intestinal blockage resulted in such poor kidney function that Dalton was placed on dialysis while in the hospital.

In total, Dalton spent 31 days in the hospital and was intubated for about half of that time. The intubation broke a front tooth resulting in the need for an implant. He was released with a wearable external defibrillator to regulate his heartbeat because there is too much calcification from his last open-heart surgery. The defibrillator was $3000 each month, from April through June.

One of the most unexpected and most impactful effects of the heart attack has been the short-term memory loss that Dalton has experienced from the lack of oxygen to his brain between the time he suffered the heart attack, and the time paramedics were able to revive him with an AED. This short-term memory loss has impeded Dalton’s ability to return to work. He has been attending many doctor’s visits and focusing on being able to care for himself. He likely requires another open-heart surgery very soon to again replace the “fake” artery in his heart. And lastly, he must attend occupational therapy to aid in recovering from the short-term memory loss that impacts his ability to return to his much-loved profession as a classically trained chef.

He is extremely fortunate to have survived the heart attack; over 70% of people do not. Dalton is continually blessed with amazing people in his life who have spent countless hours at the hospital, delivered food, and assisted with lengthy appointments. Dalton’s longtime roommate and best friend, Beau, has made it possible for Dalton to remain living independently and in their shared apartment. Dalton’s compassionate employer has graciously allowed Dalton to continue paying for medical insurance, though the monthly premiums are extraordinarily high, and Dalton is not able to safely return to work just yet.

The extended recovery time paired with the compounding medical complications has exhausted Dalton’s resources as well as the resources of his immediate family. This GoFundMe was created with the intent to aid Dalton with his immediate and intensive medical expenses since he is not able to generate his own income at this time. He’s a young guy to have had a heart attack. He is working hard every day to rebuild the memory muscles in his brain and find ways for technology to help support him along the way so he can return to work as soon as he is able. Your generous support would mean the world to our family during this most challenging time while Dalton continues to work through all of the medical complications of surviving a heart attack at such a young age.