Tim's Variety Plate: Another week in Michigan on the horizon

July 24, 2008

Another week in Michigan on the horizon

We have a date for surgery - Wednesday, August 20. We haven't worked out all the details yet, but we will be driving up on the 18th, with pre-operative testing on the 19th. It is (hopefully) a short procedure and will (hopefully) require just a few days in the hospital.

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About Tim's Heart

Tim suffered from a rare heart condition in which the lower half of his heart operates in reverse. Instead of the stronger half of his heart pumping blood to his body, it is serving his lungs. And the weaker half is working in overdrive to pump blood to his body. Tim also was born with other heart defects. A hole in his heart was repaired when he was just 5 months old. During that same surgery, a pacemaker was installed to remedy an irregular heartbeat.

Over the next 2 years, Tim had 3 surgeries to prepare him for the complicated "Double Switch" procedure. This complicated surgery disconnects major blood vessels from the heart chambers they are currently attached to and reconnects them to the correct chambers. Tim underwent this procedure in June, 2010. While the surgery successfully reconfigured the vessels, his heart did not recover fully and he was in heart failure.

On June 20, 2012 Tim received a heart transplant after nearly a month of hospitalization as a result of a cardiac event that happened on May 30. Since transplant Tim has recovered well, with no signs of rejection to date. He is currently awaiting discharge from the hospital.

Despite his diagnosis, Tim has always lived a very full and relatively normal life for a 5 year old boy. We will continue keep in close contact with his cardiology team, and he is on several medications daily to prevent rejection of his new heart. While our family has gotten past a significant hurdle there is still the possibility of additional surgery or hospitalizations in Tim's future. Regardless, we have always focused on making the most of the day to day and try to enjoy the simple things the best we can.