Elliot Owen was born on April 29th, 2016. Not long after birth we found out something was wrong with his heart and he was sent by ambulance to Children's Minneapolis. It was soon discovered Elliot had two holes in his heart as well as Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA). TGA is when the two arteries in the heart are backwards. The one artery sends blood that has already been oxygenated to the lungs, while the other artery send blood that needs to be oxygenated straight to the body. At five days old Elliot endured 9 hours of open heart surgery for his repair, followed by two months of living at Childrens. On June 27th, although tube fed, we were able to take Elliot home! Only to return for dozens of admissions over the first year of life, and a few in the second. Through the countless blood draws, x-rays, ECHOs, and rounds of antibiotics our little warrior never loses his sweet smile.
In Elliot's (almost) two years of life, he has spent about 162 days admitted. This doesn't count ER visits, or tube changes, or other day long appointments. Children's really is our home away from home.
Although Elliot is undeniably delyed, he shows us he is not slowing down. Each day he does something new. He attends OT and speech once a week to work on eating and talking, as well as PT to help get his little legs moving. We are so thanful for his team, without them Elliot wouldn't be pulling up on me to push keys on the keyboard as I type this. ;)
Our lives have been anything but easy. In the recent months Elliot lost his Grandpa to a heart attack. Making cardiac care and advancement in research a huge priorty in our lives. Now that Elliot has a history of heart attacks in the family, on top of his heart disease it is more important than ever. We wouldn't trade Elliot for the world, but we sure would rid the world of CHD.
Elliot has brought so much joy to our lives, and brought so many others together. He has so many followers whom I receive messages daily to check on him, or they stop us just to say hi if they get a chance. Elliot is our own little star. And we are so proud of how far he has come. All thanks to Childrens.