- N
- J
Family and Friends,
Our sweet boy, Kaden, is about to have heart surgery. Kaden has been having breathing and respiratory problems since birth. It has always sounded like he had rattling when he’d breathe and needed to clear his throat. We didn’t think much of it as he was sick with respiratory infections like RSV and croup quite frequently, which is fairly common for a baby/toddler in daycare. With this being a persistent problem and our daycare provider recommending getting it checked out, we took Kaden to our local Children’s hospital to an ENT in March who then referred us to a Pulmonologist who suspected tracheomalacia. From the pulmonologist we took Kaden to receive imaging of which showed that Kaden had an obstruction forming around his esophagus and trachea causing the noisy breathing that he always has. Kaden was then referred to a cardiologist and after further imaging, he was diagnosed as having a vascular ring.
In simple terms, a vascular ring means that Kaden’s aorta comes off of his heart to the right side rather than the left and has an additional ligament that forms between his aorta and another artery wrapping around his esophagus and trachea, making it difficult for him to swallow and breathe. When you hear that your child has a heart condition that causes trouble breathing and swallowing, that’s scary as we know the heart is what keeps us going. This is a cause for all of Kaden’s respiratory infections as well and with already having trouble breathing from the vascular ring, the added stress to the body while being sick makes it even harder for him to breathe so a surgical fix was needed relatively quickly. Since Kaden had been being seen at Children’s Mercy, our local hospital, we met with the surgeon who explained their process to correct this anomaly. If his surgery was to be done at Children’s it would mean them opening up his chest with a 3-4 inch incision through his ribs to get to his heart, a PICU stay with a chest tube, and then an extended hospital stay on an ICU step-down unit. This puts him at a higher risk for post-op infections, complications, and medical trauma.
We want the best for our sweet boy who is our world, this procedure at Children’s is extensive so we researched other hospitals to find a more advanced approach to lower these risks and provide him with the best care. This has brought us to Seattle Children’s Hospital where an incredible surgeon took over his case and approved him for a less invasive option to correct this vascular ring. On 12/26 Kaden will be having surgery at this hospital using a thorascopic approach which is performed with small fiber optic instruments that will go in and cut the extra ligament that Kaden has and release the vascular ring from 3-4, 1 cm incisions. Due to this advanced approach in Seattle, our boy will now just spend a night or two for observation and pain control on a general med-surg floor and will be set to discharge after. He won’t need a chest tube, a PICU stay or extended nights in the hospital, his post-op infection rates largely decline as well. This is the best option for sweet Kaden, I am confident he is receiving the best care possible here, even if it means more expenses for us and spending the holidays away from family.
We arrived in Seattle on Monday, December 23rd for Kaden’s pre-op appointments and he will be having his surgery on this Thursday, the day after Christmas. Unfortunately this has meant that Brady, Kaden and I will be away from our families for the holidays but we are so thankful and fortunate that we will be fixing this problem before it begins impacting his breathing, swallowing and general well-being more than it already has.
Our family is blessed with the number of people that care for us and we have had so many people ask us how they can help, but didn’t really know what to tell them. We wanted to give those that are interested and have asked how to help an opportunity to do so, and we wanted to share with those that care about us what’s been going on. Due to still being in nursing school, we are already on a very tight budget to get me through and my demanding schedule has left us needing to push his surgery during the holidays so it’s quickly fixed while I have time off to care for him but this adds more expenses. We are looking at many high costs to get Kaden the best care including plane tickets (during Christmas and New Years’ time), transportation around Seattle, hotel costs, surgical expenses, post-op appointments, etc. With that said, we have no expectations for donations. Please know that if you do decide to, any donation amount will be incredibly helpful and very much appreciated, just a dollar goes a long way.
We kindly ask that you all please pray for Kaden and our family on Thursday, 12/26, as he undergoes his procedure. This has been a long, hard road for us as parents, and for Kaden but we are hopeful this is the end and we see light shining at the end of the tunnel. We cannot wait to see our sweet boy thrive once this is over. We are so lucky to have each and every one of you in our lives and we could not do it without your love, support and more importantly, prayers.
Sincerely,
The Crites Family
Our sweet boy, Kaden, is about to have heart surgery. Kaden has been having breathing and respiratory problems since birth. It has always sounded like he had rattling when he’d breathe and needed to clear his throat. We didn’t think much of it as he was sick with respiratory infections like RSV and croup quite frequently, which is fairly common for a baby/toddler in daycare. With this being a persistent problem and our daycare provider recommending getting it checked out, we took Kaden to our local Children’s hospital to an ENT in March who then referred us to a Pulmonologist who suspected tracheomalacia. From the pulmonologist we took Kaden to receive imaging of which showed that Kaden had an obstruction forming around his esophagus and trachea causing the noisy breathing that he always has. Kaden was then referred to a cardiologist and after further imaging, he was diagnosed as having a vascular ring.
In simple terms, a vascular ring means that Kaden’s aorta comes off of his heart to the right side rather than the left and has an additional ligament that forms between his aorta and another artery wrapping around his esophagus and trachea, making it difficult for him to swallow and breathe. When you hear that your child has a heart condition that causes trouble breathing and swallowing, that’s scary as we know the heart is what keeps us going. This is a cause for all of Kaden’s respiratory infections as well and with already having trouble breathing from the vascular ring, the added stress to the body while being sick makes it even harder for him to breathe so a surgical fix was needed relatively quickly. Since Kaden had been being seen at Children’s Mercy, our local hospital, we met with the surgeon who explained their process to correct this anomaly. If his surgery was to be done at Children’s it would mean them opening up his chest with a 3-4 inch incision through his ribs to get to his heart, a PICU stay with a chest tube, and then an extended hospital stay on an ICU step-down unit. This puts him at a higher risk for post-op infections, complications, and medical trauma.
We want the best for our sweet boy who is our world, this procedure at Children’s is extensive so we researched other hospitals to find a more advanced approach to lower these risks and provide him with the best care. This has brought us to Seattle Children’s Hospital where an incredible surgeon took over his case and approved him for a less invasive option to correct this vascular ring. On 12/26 Kaden will be having surgery at this hospital using a thorascopic approach which is performed with small fiber optic instruments that will go in and cut the extra ligament that Kaden has and release the vascular ring from 3-4, 1 cm incisions. Due to this advanced approach in Seattle, our boy will now just spend a night or two for observation and pain control on a general med-surg floor and will be set to discharge after. He won’t need a chest tube, a PICU stay or extended nights in the hospital, his post-op infection rates largely decline as well. This is the best option for sweet Kaden, I am confident he is receiving the best care possible here, even if it means more expenses for us and spending the holidays away from family.
We arrived in Seattle on Monday, December 23rd for Kaden’s pre-op appointments and he will be having his surgery on this Thursday, the day after Christmas. Unfortunately this has meant that Brady, Kaden and I will be away from our families for the holidays but we are so thankful and fortunate that we will be fixing this problem before it begins impacting his breathing, swallowing and general well-being more than it already has.
Our family is blessed with the number of people that care for us and we have had so many people ask us how they can help, but didn’t really know what to tell them. We wanted to give those that are interested and have asked how to help an opportunity to do so, and we wanted to share with those that care about us what’s been going on. Due to still being in nursing school, we are already on a very tight budget to get me through and my demanding schedule has left us needing to push his surgery during the holidays so it’s quickly fixed while I have time off to care for him but this adds more expenses. We are looking at many high costs to get Kaden the best care including plane tickets (during Christmas and New Years’ time), transportation around Seattle, hotel costs, surgical expenses, post-op appointments, etc. With that said, we have no expectations for donations. Please know that if you do decide to, any donation amount will be incredibly helpful and very much appreciated, just a dollar goes a long way.
We kindly ask that you all please pray for Kaden and our family on Thursday, 12/26, as he undergoes his procedure. This has been a long, hard road for us as parents, and for Kaden but we are hopeful this is the end and we see light shining at the end of the tunnel. We cannot wait to see our sweet boy thrive once this is over. We are so lucky to have each and every one of you in our lives and we could not do it without your love, support and more importantly, prayers.
Sincerely,
The Crites Family