O/T... my sons second open heart surgery is tomorrow....

Alright guys, here's an update...... and it's decent for sure!

Liam made it through his valvotomy very safe and sound. The results were a 15% reduction in his gradiant (15% MORE blood is making it through his aortic valve which was opened slightly during the surgery), he came out of anesthesia safely, and his heart rate went back to normal, so the little shit won't need a pace maker!

Prognosis??!!

Liam shouldn't need another surgery for 5-6 more years!

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

And scotch, DEFINITELY see ya at the BBQ. I wanna get a putz in your 6 speed with ya if you don't mind me tagging along.

 

Glad to hear that all is looking well! ....we'll keep him in our thoughts and prayers here just the same!

 

Great news. We are still pulling for you Liam.

 

Great news! Thanks for the update, and Liam is still in our prayers.

 

Thanks for the great news. Now get back to watching him and give him and mom a good "gentle" hug from Texas.

 

Glad to hear it.

 

Very good news!

 

Can I get an AMEN!!!

 

Great News lotsa big vibes for the little Rodder

 

Outstanding.

 

Right on man. You and the family stay up.

Cris

 

Gald to hear everything is working out, perfect !!!!

 

Awesome.

 

My younger brother's grandson ( first "grand' for my clan of 7 siblings) had similar problems.

After his second surgery doc said something his mother wasn't ready to hear -- "He could even play football if he wants to."

Good news/bad news in same statement!

Yep, docs are getting better, and little boys are just onery enough to get well and keep on chugging!

(Brother said best part of second surgery was that the kid "didn't turn blue when he got upset.")

Best wishes and good luck!

 

Only the Best Liam & the family

 

Great news, best wishes for the little buddy.

 

Alright Liam

 

Its great to hear Liam is doing well. At some point in the future these surgeries will not even be open heart, new devices are being designed right now that will implant any of the 4 heart valves with a procedure similar to coronary artery stents. I wish I could show picts of the devices working but I could lose my job (dang confidentiality agreements :-( Liam and others will always be in my prayers.

 

Fantastic news! Look forward to seeing some of his rides some day!

 

Well thats great i hope it comes quick cuz my 10 year old boy needs heart surgery.He has a bad valve. They wanna wait till he gets a little older b4 they break his ribs and cut his chest open.

 

That is the crux of the problem. The Doctors and products today are excellent. The problem for children is that they outgrow their replacement valves or the valves life span requiring future surgeries (that is why your doctors want to wait as long as possible). It is the hope that these new devices will eliminate the need to do such invasive surgeries as the current open heart procedures.

The only problem is that the ones we have worked with in our lab are in early development and still need a ton of work before they make it to market.

Here is another device we worked with a number of years ago. Same concept different heart problem. I think some of the very first open heart bypass surgeries were to repair this type of defect (abnormal holes between the heart chambers). Now these ASD and PFO devices do this with a minimally invasive surgery like I mentioned above.

http://www.amplatzer.com/

(The valve devices I am working with currently are NOT with this company, I only pointed them out as a similar current market technology that I have worked with)

SOCAL1, you and your son also have my prayers. While this is never easy for anyone, you may have been put in the worst place. You know the problem, you know that the fix is there and fairly easy to do with the competent doctors that we have -- but they just want you to wait. My cousin was in the same place with her newborn daughter. She was born with a bad liver, and was put on a transplant list but was a low priority because she wasn't in immediate danger. At about the age of 6 she got her transplant (they were able to use a part of my cousin's liver for the transplant). But again what the doctors were doing was waiting as long as possible for the transplant, because of the future complications posed by the transplant.

 

from our family to yours in prayers

 

I am glad to hear he pulled through good. Sorry I just come across this thread. My prayers for him to be healthy and active.

 

You got it from my entire family!!!