John, born 2000

Our son, John, was born with Transposition of the Great Arteries on January 27, 2000. We found out something was wrong when he was eight hours old as he was turning blue. Five hours later, he was transported to Boston Children's Hospital on a prostaglandin drip and intubated. His ASD was closing, so the next day he had to have a balloon atrioseptostomy done in the cath lab. When he was four days old, he had the arterial switch operation. His chest remained open for around four days due to all of the swelling. After spending thirteen days in the ICU, John was transferred to the floor and was discharged four days later.

 

He has been doing very well and sees Dr. Lang for his yearly cardiology visits. John's only problem is that he was born with collaterals in his right upper lobe of his lung causing his lungs to receive too much blood. The collaterals are very tiny and are not growing as he grows and are not posing any problems. If they do cause problems in the future, they may have to take care of them in the cath lab.

 

John is in school, very bright, and has no restrictions at all. He can do anything his older brother can do. John has more energy than all of us put together!

 

Story by John's mom, Ann - Massachusetts