Meet Jameson! During the holiday season 2017, our full-term baby boy kept us on pins and needles all winter and into the spring, living in the hospital. In utero, we knew about a VSD, but doctors were not concerned and said the VSD closed. After Jameson was born, our lives were stripped away from us when he was diagnosed with an interrupted aortic arch, along with a larger VSD than they initially thought, along with many other types of complications. As first-time parents, we were blindsided at war together. We dealt with shock and lived in crisis mode long-term not knowing what the next hour would bring and not being able to bring our baby home, let alone bond with him.
Our miracle baby struggled to survive not only his first month of life, when Jameson underwent a hybrid open heart surgery at 3 weeks old, but he had to have a strong heart physically and strong-willingly to undergo other types of surgeries and recoveries. We almost lost our son five times. Currently, Jameson is developing well with his temporary heart fix!
Currently, we are very thankful for so much, but most recently for memorable holidays in 2018, a healthy cold / flu season, appropriate growth, strength and increased mobility. We thank God for the blessing of finally being able to bring Jameson home at 17 months old due to living in a facility with 24 hour care. We are in the waiting period still into the summer 2019 for an upcoming heart catheterization procedure and when doctors will tell us when the final heart surgery will be. We anticipate late summer 2019, but only God knows the right timing. We ask for prayers that this is a one-and-done surgery and that we can put life-threatening surgeries in general, behind us.
Help-a-Heart stepped in and knew what to do from the start. Whether it was someone getting us away from the hospital for meals, providing holiday meals for not only us, but our extended family, finding specific clothing to work around the medical attachments or providing a connection to other parents who speak the same language, medically and emotionally, in group gatherings, we are forever grateful. We even got a special shirt and hero cape made just for a boy! Help-a-Heart offered an opportunity for his mama to share songwriting as her musical testimony with other parents and gave generously. Help-a-Heart is a provision that God put in our lives long ago, being friends with the gal who started it! We hope to pay it forward to other families and help as much as they helped us!
Throughout each month for a year, we were reminded that we’re not alone and that people care during such life-altering events.
