Adam

Adam was born June 27, 2005. Upon birth, we found out that he had several congenital heart defects, despite this never happening in either of our families. We have an older heart-healthy son, Nathan.

Adam was not a candidate for the arterial switch operation because he also has pulmonary stenosis. Therefore, he underwent a balloon atrial septostomy during his first week of life in order to create an atrial septal defect. Adam's O2 sats have been holding steady since in the mid 70% to low 80% range while he awaits growth to undergo the Rastelli, or some modification of that procedure. We are told that he should wait until he is 1-3 years of age, depending upon how he is doing.

Right now, Adam is a happy 7 month old and no one would know that he had a heart defect by looking at him. He appears to be progressing well developmentally. He is monitored every two months by his pediatric cardiologist.

July 2007 Update

Adam is now 2 years old. After a great deal of research, we decided that the Nikaidoh Procedure offered Adam the best long term outlook. We visited Dr. Nikaidoh over the phone and twice in person in Dallas during 2006.

Adam had his surgery performed by Dr. Leonard and Dr. Nikaidoh June 5, 2007 at Children's Medical Center of Dallas. Adam was out of the hospital within 7 days with no complications. Adam is feeling so much better and his finger nails are no longer blue. His O2 is now 99-100%. It has been an amazing journey to this point and we are so proud of our little Adam!