Finn the Fighter

Finnegan "Finn" Porter Kyle was born September 15 at 7:53 AM and weighed 7 lbs 8 ounces and was 20 inches long.  He cried upon delivery but then began having trouble breathing and was taken to the NICU.  There, after what felt like a lifetime to us but was medically very fast, we learned he has transposition of the great arteries (TGA).  Essentially, this means that the vessels that go to his lungs and that go to his body are switched, so his body doesn't get the oxygen it needs.  Shortly after birth he  had a procedure called a balloon atrial septostomy that opens the wall between chambers of his heart, helping him to get the oxygenated blood he needs better.  After the procedure, he started to do much better.   He had an arterial switch procedure open heart surgery on September 22.    September 28 he had an episode of Supra Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT). This happened a couple times the day he was born but were attributed to the procedures he had that "tickled" his heart. This time, there was no identifiable similar stimulation. They did an ECG, and it was discovered that he also has Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW to those in the know). This is a condition where the electricity of his heart can get out of whack and make it beat too fast. Although rare, WPW is less rare in children who require heart surgery.  Currently, he is treated with a medicine that will stop his heart from beating to fast.  He'll likely remain on this medication for at least the first year of his life.  60-70% of kids outgrow it in a year.   Another 10-15% still outgrow it after that.   And if he still hasn't outgrown it by the time he is 4 or 5, they can do a procedure to go in, find the spot on his heart causing the problem, and "zap" it with a 98% success rate.    He also had complete collapse of his left lung.  This required prolonged respiratory support and oxygen.   He also developed fluid around his heart which happens in a small percentage of people who have open heart surgery.  This is being treated with medicines and hopefully will not require another heart procedure to drain the fluid.   Finn is still in the hospital and is making progress.  He will require followup care with a cardiologist all his life.  He will require heart medicine for at least a year.  

We greatly appreciate all the prayers for Finn from family, friends, coworkers and people near and far whom we have never met. 

With already close to a month in the hospital and open heart surgery, Finn has quite an expensive hospital bill which is growing each day.  Any help that you feel you could give would be greatly appreciated by Finn's parents.  We of course have no clue what his long term medical needs will be.