Levi's Heart: Pics of Levi Post-Op

Friday, June 24, 2011

Pics of Levi Post-Op

It's been a long day, but I wanted to post a couple pictures from after surgery. Levi continues to be closely monitored, but is doing well. The talk is about extubation right now. Maybe late tonight or tomorrow. The nurses are trying to keep him comfortable with sedation and painkillers. So far so good.

Our first time seeing him. We thought he looked pretty good considering what he'd been through.

all of the medications Levi is on

1 comment:

AnonymousJune 25, 2011 at 8:49 AM
We've been thinking about you guys all day and night... so happy to hear the surgery went well! Dr. Hanley is such a blessing! Levi is one tough guy, I'm sure he'll continue to amaze you! Lots of prayers for a healthy recovery! Take care, Lauren Starbuck
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Levi's Story

After a normal pregnancy, on June 18, 2010 our third son, Levi, was born. He was beautiful, sweet, and as far as we knew, healthy. Doctors and nurses who routinely monitored his vitals in the hospital heard a heart murmur but thought it was normal and would go away within 24 hours.

Everything changed the evening of June 19. Our regular pediatrician was on call at the hospital and after checking Levi's murmur, sent him to the NICU for an echocardiogram to see exactly what was causing the murmur. The echo showed that Levi had critical aortic stenosis, a serious congenital heart defect (CHD). Infants born with critical aortic stenosis have an aortic valve opening so small it is impossible for the heart to pump enough blood to meet the baby's needs.

Levi was quickly air lifted to OHSU in Portland, OR for an emergency balloon dilation catheterization of his valve. The procedure worked to open his valve a moderate amount, but it also caused a moderate amount of leakage of blood back into his heart. Tests also revealed that Levi has a malformed and thickened bicuspid aortic valve instead of a three leaflet aortic valve. Levi spent six days in the NICU before coming home.

On June 24, 2011, at one year old, Levi had his first open heart surgery at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford in CA. His bicuspid aortic valve was successfully repaired and his dilated aneurysmal ascending aorta was reduced. The surgeon also did a resection of fibromuscular subaortic membrane and supravalvular aortic valve stenosis.

Much sooner than expected, on March 21, 2014, Levi went in for his second open heart surgery to resect the severe subaortic stenosis which had aggressively developed in less than a year.

We hope that these repairs will give him many more years before another surgery is needed. The next surgery will most likely be a valve replacement. He is closely monitored by a cardiologist and currently has moderate aortic stenosis.

Other than his heart defect, Levi is THRIVING. He is strong, resilient and very active. He's doing great in school and loves biking, soccer, reading, and drawing. We love our little miracle dearly. He has already taught us so much about living in such a short amount of time.

To read more about Levi's story from the beginning, start here.