Congenital heart disease is much more common than we ever knew. We found out our baby boy had multiple CHDs during our anatomy scan and were told that Gunner has d-TGA, VSD, ASD and COA and that he would need open heart surgery (and potentially more than one) soon after birth to survive.
Dextro-Transposition of the Great Arteries (d-TGA) is when the 2 major arteries in the heart are crisscrossed and attached to the wrong sides of the heart. The aorta (that sends oxygenated blood to the rest of the body) is attached to the right side of the heart. This means the aorta will be sending deoxygenated blood to the body. The pulmonary artery (which send deoxygenated blood to the lungs) is then attached to the left side of the heart, where the blood is already oxygenated, and sends it to the lungs. d-TGA usually comes with an additional heart defect called a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) (a hole between the ventricles). This allows a small portion of deoxygenated blood & oxygenated blood to mix, which can sustain life for a short period of time but causes very low o2 saturation. Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) is also a hole but every newborn has one of these and it usually closes on its own post birth but for heart babies like Gunner, this hole is usually ballooned open post birth to allow mixing of blood prior to full corrective open heart surgery. Coarctation of the aorta (COA) is a narrowing of the aorta, the major blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart to the body. This narrowing causes the left side of the heart to work harder to pump blood through the aorta. In Gunner’s case, he needed to have his aortic arch completely reconstructed so that the blood could flow properly.
Gunner is our warrior, our miracle, our blessing. Without the funding raised by organizations like the Children’s Heart Foundation and events like the Congenital Heart Walk Series, my son would not be with us today.
My family humbly asks for you to open your checkbook and donate to this amazing cause and help further research to help children like our son survive and thrive and maybe one day find a cure for CHD.