Owen's Heart Surgery
Donation protected
Hi There
Our son Owen has heart surgery coming up on March 12, 2020, at Children's Hospital in Vancouver.
He was born as a premature baby at 29 week of gestation on March 23.2019. We stayed at the Women's Hospital NICU for 3 months from the end of March to the end of June 2019. Owen is currently just over 10 months old (and is close to 9 months from his gestational birthdate).
Owen was born with a heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. This heart condition means his heart has a few thing going on, but the main problem is he has a hole between the 2 ventricles of his heart (the blood in mixing). Another issue is his Pulmonary Artery (artery from the heart to the lungs) is thinned, and the artery is being replaced by 'conditioned tissue'. This will be Open Heart Surgery, and quite invasive. The surgeon's at Children's Hospital are some of the best in the world, and we have every ounce of faith that the surgery will be successful, as Owen is a strong boy. The recovery time is around 2 weeks, and we will be staying in the PICU at Children's Hospital for the days following his surgery
During his time in the NICU, after Owen was born, he grew like a champ, and we gave him as much love as we could, which had a profound affect on his growth. He was on CPAP for a long time, during his stay, as his lungs were still premature, and they needed time to develop. The day that he was able to breath on his own, was one the most profound moments for me, and it still brings a tear to my eye when I think about.
We came home with a NG tube for feeding, as the doctors let us know, that because of his heart condition, he would not have the stamina to feed fully on his own. But Owen was determined, and when he pulled it out one day, we tested his feeding skills, and he was able to take full feeds orally.
Ever since he has been growing well, and is a very active baby. He loves to kick, jump, observe the world around him, and recently he has been sitting up on his own, and starting to walk (with the assistance of Mom or Dad). He is a very happy baby, and you can see his love for life in him everyday.
The reason I am doing this as a Go Fund Me, is both Chantelle (Mom), and I will be off work, so that we can be with Owen during his recovery to ensure he knows that we are both there for him. Bills will still have to paid at home, along with other expenses, while we are at the hospital. Our stay at the NICU after he was born, drained our savings, as we both took the time off work for 3 months, during that time. We don't have any savings left, and we need help to ensure that our expenses at home are still maintained and we don't fall behind. This is a smaller time frame than our NICU stay, and any amount of donations would be greatly appreciated, as we just need enough funding cover regular life expenses for basic living.
Thank you for taking the time to read our journey that we have had with little Owen. We have been anticipating this surgery ever since before he was born, and our thoughts have always drifted to how the surgery will go, and what Owen will have to go through at such a young age. His chest scar will be with him for life, and the Cardiology doctors have let us know that he will need further surgery as he nears adolescence, and then again when he is nearing adulthood.
One other item that may be of interest to you is our media attention that we received at the NICU. We read a lot to Owen while he was growing from a preemie to a full grown baby, and I also wrote a song about our experience at the NICU . We feel that because we read books to him, and sang to him, that this greatly helped in his growth, and is in part to why he such a happy boy, given the struggles that he has been through. See links to below to a Globe & Mail article, City TV news spot, and Vancouver Sun article (with a video too)
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-why-hospitals-are-prescribing-music-therapy-to-babies-with-complex/
https://www.citynews1130.com/video/2019/06/24/preemie-reading-program-aims-to-improve-brain-development/
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/the-power-of-love-reading-singing-talking-to-preterm-babies-celebrated-in-program
As stated above, We are confident that Owen will recover from his surgery just fine, as his will to live, and enjoy life is very strong. Thanks so much for any help you can give us.
Best Regards,
Matt, Chantelle, & Owen
Our son Owen has heart surgery coming up on March 12, 2020, at Children's Hospital in Vancouver.
He was born as a premature baby at 29 week of gestation on March 23.2019. We stayed at the Women's Hospital NICU for 3 months from the end of March to the end of June 2019. Owen is currently just over 10 months old (and is close to 9 months from his gestational birthdate).
Owen was born with a heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. This heart condition means his heart has a few thing going on, but the main problem is he has a hole between the 2 ventricles of his heart (the blood in mixing). Another issue is his Pulmonary Artery (artery from the heart to the lungs) is thinned, and the artery is being replaced by 'conditioned tissue'. This will be Open Heart Surgery, and quite invasive. The surgeon's at Children's Hospital are some of the best in the world, and we have every ounce of faith that the surgery will be successful, as Owen is a strong boy. The recovery time is around 2 weeks, and we will be staying in the PICU at Children's Hospital for the days following his surgery
During his time in the NICU, after Owen was born, he grew like a champ, and we gave him as much love as we could, which had a profound affect on his growth. He was on CPAP for a long time, during his stay, as his lungs were still premature, and they needed time to develop. The day that he was able to breath on his own, was one the most profound moments for me, and it still brings a tear to my eye when I think about.
We came home with a NG tube for feeding, as the doctors let us know, that because of his heart condition, he would not have the stamina to feed fully on his own. But Owen was determined, and when he pulled it out one day, we tested his feeding skills, and he was able to take full feeds orally.
Ever since he has been growing well, and is a very active baby. He loves to kick, jump, observe the world around him, and recently he has been sitting up on his own, and starting to walk (with the assistance of Mom or Dad). He is a very happy baby, and you can see his love for life in him everyday.
The reason I am doing this as a Go Fund Me, is both Chantelle (Mom), and I will be off work, so that we can be with Owen during his recovery to ensure he knows that we are both there for him. Bills will still have to paid at home, along with other expenses, while we are at the hospital. Our stay at the NICU after he was born, drained our savings, as we both took the time off work for 3 months, during that time. We don't have any savings left, and we need help to ensure that our expenses at home are still maintained and we don't fall behind. This is a smaller time frame than our NICU stay, and any amount of donations would be greatly appreciated, as we just need enough funding cover regular life expenses for basic living.
Thank you for taking the time to read our journey that we have had with little Owen. We have been anticipating this surgery ever since before he was born, and our thoughts have always drifted to how the surgery will go, and what Owen will have to go through at such a young age. His chest scar will be with him for life, and the Cardiology doctors have let us know that he will need further surgery as he nears adolescence, and then again when he is nearing adulthood.
One other item that may be of interest to you is our media attention that we received at the NICU. We read a lot to Owen while he was growing from a preemie to a full grown baby, and I also wrote a song about our experience at the NICU . We feel that because we read books to him, and sang to him, that this greatly helped in his growth, and is in part to why he such a happy boy, given the struggles that he has been through. See links to below to a Globe & Mail article, City TV news spot, and Vancouver Sun article (with a video too)
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-why-hospitals-are-prescribing-music-therapy-to-babies-with-complex/
https://www.citynews1130.com/video/2019/06/24/preemie-reading-program-aims-to-improve-brain-development/
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/the-power-of-love-reading-singing-talking-to-preterm-babies-celebrated-in-program
As stated above, We are confident that Owen will recover from his surgery just fine, as his will to live, and enjoy life is very strong. Thanks so much for any help you can give us.
Best Regards,
Matt, Chantelle, & Owen
Organizer
Matt Arnold
Organizer
Mission, BC