Baby Julia Rae Skousen

AIMING FOR HOPE

This sweet baby Julia Rae was born on March 23, 2021. Shortly after her birth they discovered Julia had a heart disease and needed  surgery. This is from her mother’s words:

We just talked to the surgeon. Julia's heart disease is worse than they realized. He said that she doesn't have a ventricle wall. I.E., she only developed one chamber in the bottom of her heart, instead of two. Her valve positions are all messed up, and the support structure for her valves are chaotic. He tried to put in a wall but eventually couldn't, and aborted the operation. He instead removed the atrial wall, to allow deoxygenated and oxygenated blood to mix. So she now has only two chambers, the top and the bottom. Because her pulmonary artery is twice as big as her aorta artery, (normally they are the same size) he banded her pulmonary artery so that less blood flowed to the lungs. That was all the happened today. She'll be open for 2-3 days while the swelling goes down. The hope is that he bought her enough time to grow for 4-6 months when he feels he can attempt again, as her heart will be bigger making it easier to operate on.

Julia Rae also had surgery on her intestines. Most of her large intestines were dead and had to be removed. Luckily her small intestines seem fine. 

As you can imagine the cost of everything is extensive. If there is anything that you can do to help this sweet family it would be greatly appreciated. They are such a loving, humble family and they need some extra support at this difficult time.  

A song that gives them some hope and comfort is Aiming For Hope by David Archuleta. If you get a chance listen to it and remember sweetJulia in your prayers.