Heart of a Warrior #ZaedynStrong

This is our grandson Zaedyn, he is a kind-hearted, loving 9-year-old boy. He loves playing board games, x-box, collecting Hot Wheels, Pokemon cards, and playing with his two sisters Jocilyn and Aria. Zaedyn’s absolute favorite sport is baseball and he is a natural at it. Talk about great sportsmanship; you can find him on the field fist-pumping his opponents while they are on base, just letting them know what a good job they are doing. As well as running up to them after to tell them “Good game.” Being out on the field was easy for him until last year when he needed frequent breaks during the games because he felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest and felt tired more often. An appointment with his cardiologist confirmed the news that we had been dreading, his condition has worsened and he needs to undergo open heart surgery. His cardiologist was hoping to put surgery off until Zaedyn was older but this is no longer possible.

Though looking at him you could not tell he has been through so much in just his 9 years of life on this earth. But his entrance into the world has been a challenging one. While most parents are excitedly bringing their newborns home from the hospital to a freshly prepared nursery. My grandson Zaedyn spent the first hours of his life being transferred between three different hospitals in three different cities by ambulance with his parents Owen and Chelsie following close behind in their car since they were not allowed to ride with their newborn. His mother Chelsie who had just given birth just a few hours earlier, did not get to recover while cuddling & holding her new bundle as most mothers would get to do. Zaedyn was introduced to his new nursery in which he would spend the next three months of his life at the Denver Children’s Hospital. It’s there where he had a team of doctors that collaborated to provide him with the best care possible. It’s there that he would be diagnosed with Ebstein’s Anomaly, a very rare form of congenital heart disease. In such a condition, the tricuspid valves on the right side of the heart sit lower in the heart than they should and the valve's three leaflets are shaped incorrectly to the heart muscle, which keeps them from closing and causes the right side of the heart to become enlarged.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In one picture Zaedyn is holding his beads of courage. He has earned a bead for every exam, procedure, or test he has had to have done regarding CHD. Zaedyn has shown us what bravery is, he has gone through more medical exams, procedures, and tests than most people have done in their lifetime. The other picture is of his heart, showing his everyday battle with CHD all the while still being a kid with a big smile on his face that loves to play & spend time with his family.

The cost of medical bills even with health insurance leaves a large out-of-pocket expense. We want to ensure Owen and Chelsie have the resources they need to focus on Zaedyn’s health and well-being.

We are reaching out to you all to ask for your prayers, support, and to share Zaedyn’s story.

Thank you