Please help with little Aedric
Donation protected
In early December, 2015, Reuben and Audra were overjoyed to find out that they were expecting. They could not wait to share our news with family. Boy or girl, They just wanted a healthy baby. On April 14th, they discovered they were having a BOY! At this time, the little man was not being cooperative with the tech and would not allow them to photograph his heart.
Two weeks later, on April 28th (at 25 weeks), the tech was finally able to see their little one's heart and called in a doctor. That day, mom was referred to a fetal cardiologist and discovered that her little bundle of joy had a broken heart. Final diagnosis is Critical Aortic Stenosis (AS), Endocardial Fibroelastosis (EFE), Left Ventricular Dysfunction, and a Bicuspid Aortic Valve. The cardiologist didn't have many answers, but rather said, "we have to wait and see." AS is when the aortic valve does not separate completely leaving the opening out of the left ventricle into the aorta very small. Because the narrowing of Aedric's valve is so small, it is considered critical and had to be dealt with immediately after birth (fortunately, Aedric was born term on July 27, 2016). 22 hours after his birth, Aedric had a procedure done in which his valve was ballooned open; this was not as successful as doctors were hoping.
Before Aedric was born, the cardiologists expected him to stay in the hospital for about a month, as of October 12th, he has lived in a hospital for 84 days and we do not know when he will be going home. He has undergone a second ballooning attempt, and while Aedric is stable, there is moderate leaking in both his aortic and mitral valves and there is still little function of the left ventricle and high pressure inside the ventricle due to the narrowing of the aortic valve. Aedric will need surgical intervention to replace the valve, but doctors are unsure of how far in the future that will be; when asked the doctors say, "two weeks, two months, six months, we just don't know."
Mom has been by Aedric's side through all of his challenges. On September 8th, 2016, Aedric was transferred to Phoenix Children's Hospital in Phoenix for continued treatment and evaluation for other surgical procedures, including a heart transplant. Mom and Queenie (mom's mother) are staying at the Ronald McDonald House and at Aedric's bedside 12-14 hours a day. We couldn't be more grateful for RMH. But, mom took a job, before Aedric was diagnosed, as a behavior interventionist in a Tucson middle school, and had to quit before she started in order to take care of Aedric. This left dad with his job and all the financial responsibilities. He has taken on a second part time job (the summer job mom left), but bills are still piling up.
The money from this campaign will go towards helping to relieve the financial stress and help make it easier for mom and Queenie to stay with Aedric for the duration of his treatment.
Thank-you for your support!
Two weeks later, on April 28th (at 25 weeks), the tech was finally able to see their little one's heart and called in a doctor. That day, mom was referred to a fetal cardiologist and discovered that her little bundle of joy had a broken heart. Final diagnosis is Critical Aortic Stenosis (AS), Endocardial Fibroelastosis (EFE), Left Ventricular Dysfunction, and a Bicuspid Aortic Valve. The cardiologist didn't have many answers, but rather said, "we have to wait and see." AS is when the aortic valve does not separate completely leaving the opening out of the left ventricle into the aorta very small. Because the narrowing of Aedric's valve is so small, it is considered critical and had to be dealt with immediately after birth (fortunately, Aedric was born term on July 27, 2016). 22 hours after his birth, Aedric had a procedure done in which his valve was ballooned open; this was not as successful as doctors were hoping.
Before Aedric was born, the cardiologists expected him to stay in the hospital for about a month, as of October 12th, he has lived in a hospital for 84 days and we do not know when he will be going home. He has undergone a second ballooning attempt, and while Aedric is stable, there is moderate leaking in both his aortic and mitral valves and there is still little function of the left ventricle and high pressure inside the ventricle due to the narrowing of the aortic valve. Aedric will need surgical intervention to replace the valve, but doctors are unsure of how far in the future that will be; when asked the doctors say, "two weeks, two months, six months, we just don't know."
Mom has been by Aedric's side through all of his challenges. On September 8th, 2016, Aedric was transferred to Phoenix Children's Hospital in Phoenix for continued treatment and evaluation for other surgical procedures, including a heart transplant. Mom and Queenie (mom's mother) are staying at the Ronald McDonald House and at Aedric's bedside 12-14 hours a day. We couldn't be more grateful for RMH. But, mom took a job, before Aedric was diagnosed, as a behavior interventionist in a Tucson middle school, and had to quit before she started in order to take care of Aedric. This left dad with his job and all the financial responsibilities. He has taken on a second part time job (the summer job mom left), but bills are still piling up.
The money from this campaign will go towards helping to relieve the financial stress and help make it easier for mom and Queenie to stay with Aedric for the duration of his treatment.
Thank-you for your support!
Organizer
Audra Hughes
Organizer
Tucson, AZ