2009:
March 8 at 6:46 a.m. – Ethan is born! – 6 pounds, 5 ounces and 19.5 inches long – Doctors discovered that something was wrong with his heart around 8 hours after his birth.
March 9 – Underwent 1st cardiac catheterization to “map out” his heart. Official diagnosis: Pulmonary Atresia with VSD
March 11 – Had his 1st open heart surgery to close the VSD and place a right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery conduit (surgery #1)
March 19 – Back to the OR to have a permanent pacemaker implanted (surgery #2)
March 30 – Moved out of the PCICU!
April 3 – Placed on NEC watch due to abnormal x-ray reading
April 13 – Broviac line placed (surgery #3)
April 22 – Ethan coded and it took 11 minutes of CPR to bring him back to us. Most likely cause: micro-aspirations – Back to the PCICU
May 7 – Had a G-tube placed, along with the Nissen procedure (surgery #4)
May 11 – Moved back out of the PCICU
May 14 – DISCHARGED! Ethan came home for the first time in 9.5 weeks!
August 31 – Back to the cath lab for diagnostic information and possible intervention (cardiac catheterization #2 – not successful)
September 14 – 2nd open heart surgery – conduit and pacemaker were replaced (surgery #5) - Ethan came home 6 days later!
2010:
January 4 – Corrective surgery on Ethan’s left arm (surgery #6)
March 8 – Ethan’s 1st birthday!!
March 16 – Four-part surgery: 1st stage hypospadias repair (surgery #7), adenoids removed (surgery #8), PE (ear) tubes placed (surgery #9), tear duct dilation (surgery #10)
April 21 – Developed a fast-moving bone infection in his left index finger (osteomyelitis)
April 22 – Emergency surgery required to stop the infection (partial finger amputation) and repair the left median nerve (surgery #11)
November 2 – 2nd stage (final) hypospadias repair (surgery #12)
December 20 – Ethan pulled out his G-tube during nap-time; his medical team decided to leave it out!
2011:
March 8 – Ethan’s 2nd birthday!!
May 5 – Catheterization #3 – success! – Dr. R. placed a stent in Ethan’s current conduit and brought his gradient pressures down by half!
July 16 - Ethan's first ring bearer gig.
July 19 - Dr. I. moved Ethan to 6-month cardiology visits.
August 15 - Genetics follow-up - moved to yearly visits. All genetic testing has come back negative!
October 25 - Orthopedics follow-up - moved to yearly visits. X-ray showed no change in Ethan's left arm. Maximum and ideal correction has been obtained at this point!
November 21 - Urology follow-up - renal ultrasound showed NORMAL kidneys and Ethan shouldn't need any further correction for the hypospadias. Next visit - 2 years!
December 15 - Ethan's 1st afternoon of "school"!
2012:
January 17 - Cardio check-up. Pressure gradient was up somewhat from July, but still very stable. Next visit - 6 months!
February 12 - ER visit for high fever (104-105) and high heart rate (170-180). Diagnosis = virus.
February 29 - Three years of feeding and speech therapy came to a close - Ethan's last speech therapy visit.
March 7 - Ethan "graduated" from North Carolina's early intervention program with NO NEED for special education services from the public school system!
March 8 - Ethan's 3rd birthday!!
...to be continued...
