Our beautiful heart warrior, Noah was born on February 2, 2022. Noah was diagnosed with Pulmonary Atresia and Pulmonary Stenosis. At 11 days old he went through open heart surgery and received a Post Blalock-Taussig Shunt. The following day he went in for his first of several heart catheterizations, where he received stents and ballooning. This little warrior finally came home to meet his big sister Emma after six long weeks in the hospital.
In June, he went in for his pre-surgical heart cath, followed by his second open-heart surgery. He received a central shunt during this surgery to allow for more blood flow to promote the growth of his pulmonary arteries. Unfortunately, in October, the findings from a CT scan showed this surgery did not do what it was intended to do. His pulmonary artery did not grow.
On top of his heart issues, Noah is diagnosed with failure to thrive and has abnormal thyroid function. His weight gain has been very slow. Most recently, Noah went in for his third cardiac catheterization. They were supposed to intervene with stents and balloons; however, this procedure was unsuccessful. He had bleeding in his lungs which halted the procedure. He spent a week recovering from this procedure.
Because this procedure was unsuccessful, Noah now needs an extremely invasive and extensive surgery, which will be at Stanford Children’s Hospital in California. This surgery is called Pulmonary Artery Reconstruction and could last up to 24 hours. Noah will need to arrive a few days before surgery for another cath, CT scan and pre-surgical testing. The family will be traveling to Palo Alto, California for this specific surgery, and Noah’s recovery time will be approximately 3-4 weeks. While the surgery is not scheduled yet, due to Noah’s current health status, it will be scheduled very soon.