“Parents of babies with congenital heart defects can have so much going on, so many medical staff around, so much of the usual baby-ness taken away,” says Stirling McDavid, a pediatric cardiology nurse practitioner at Levine Children’s Hospital who cared for Ace. developed close bonds with the medical team. Doctors were able to take him off the ventilator, then soon after, they started weaning him from medications. “They saved his life.”Īce spent two months in the hospital, including time in intensive care. His lungs weren't breathing on their own,” Haley says. His blood pressure bottomed out after surgery and he needed to go on a heart/lung bypass machine – called ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation – to keep his organs functioning. They stayed at the hospital with Ace for two weeks until he was ready for a Damus-Kaye-Stansel (DKS) procedure to control blood flow.Īlthough the DKS went well, Ace’s recovery was difficult. They brought him to Levine Children’s Hospital where testing showed his lungs were getting three times the flow of blood than they should, furthering his heart failure symptoms. They knew this meant it was nearing the time for Ace to get his first heart surgery. recognized signs of heart failure: Ace was getting out of breath frequently and sweating more than usual. When Ace was four months old, Haley and K.T. Impressed by the staff who arranged tours and meetings with surgeons for Haley and K.T., they knew they had found the right hospital to care for their baby who would affectionally be named Ace. Everybody there was just wonderful and supportive and knowledgeable. “But when we went to Levine Children’s Hospital, we just got a really good feeling. There are all these statistics and all kinds of information,” Haley says. They visited hospitals around the southeast, but one stood out amongst the rest. Their goal was to find the right hospital, even if it wasn’t the closest. had another big thing to prepare for: They needed a hospital with an excellent reputation in pediatric cardiac care. With DORV, the main artery and the lung artery do not connect to the usual areas in the heart and treating the condition usually requires a series of surgeries within the baby’s first few years of life. During the 20 th week of her pregnancy, Haley learned that their baby had a congenital heart defect called a double outlet right ventricle (DORV). Carter of Knoxville, Tenn., had much more to consider than most new parents. It does not store any personal data.Preparing for a baby’s arrival is a busy time for all parents, but Haley and K.T. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.
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