Ethan Durham

[Guest guest]

Hey guys,

Below is an email I sent to friends and family. We've had a lot going on in the

past week.

Please pray for our little baby boy!! He is so perfect and we love him very

much....

Pray for my milk to come in nice and strong so that our boy will have a feast as

soon as

they let him eat some " real food. " I am pumping every 2 1/2 hours during the

day and

once in the middle of the night. It's tedious and tiring, but it's something I

can do for

Ethan. My husband is wonderful and is up with me, preparing the pump and

washing all

the parts when were done and then labeling the bottles and putting them up for

me. I'm

still getting over the C-section and the ileus that I got with it (a blessing in

disguise)

along with all the fluid buildup in my legs and feet.

I'm going to try and remember to check in with Dr.R tomorrow. Sharon, if you

read this,

please call me if you haven't heard from me. We are either at the hospital or

I'm

connected to the breast pump, it seems!!!

Thanks so much!

Ethan is at Medical City Dallas. PIctures are up at www.gallery.me.com/aym4him.

They

were taken with my phone...we have more, just not the time to upload them from

our

camera!

AmyinPlano

-------------------------

Whew...A LOT has gone in in just a week, but I thought I should take a minute to

let you

know exactly what is going on.

Ethan has what is called Transposition of the Great Arteries. It is a serious

heart defect in

which his aorta and pulmonary artery are reversed. This is a fatal flaw of the

heart if left

untreated. By the grace of God, this was detected on the day we were hoping to

be

discharged from Medical Center of Plano. There are a lot of things that came

together for

this to work out as it has and, as horrible as the news was to hear, once we

realized how

all the pieces fit together, we realized just how truly blessed we are.

You see, the pediatrician who initially picked up on this wasn't going to be our

pediatrician. I had tried to interview one the Friday before I was to be

induced. On the

way, I got a low pressure indicator on the dash meaning a tire was low or flat.

I had no

choice but to go to the gas station and try and figure out what was up. I

missed my

appointment. I was able to do the interview by phone but it didn't go like I

wanted.

Steen had mentioned her pediatrician and I called to see if she was taking new

patients

and she was, so we decided to go with her. Tuesday night, when I went to be

induced

(after a brief stay on Monday b/c Ethan wasn't reacting to my OB's non-stress

test like she

wanted), they asked who the pediatrician was we picked. I told her Dr. Minnal.

Ok.

On to the next thing. The induction was going slowly and Ethan wasn't reacting

too well to

the pitocin (what causes your contractions to start) and, despite my water

breaking

(woo..what a feeling that was! He flip-flopped in there and I thought he busted

my

bladder or something!), nothing was really moving on so my doc came in and said

they

were going to have to do a C-section. After I got my epidural, we went in and

things

started rolling....until I realized the epidural didn't quite take. She pinched

me with what

Dillon has now told me were gargantuan-sized tweezers and I felt it! Epi number

two was

given and while they were threading the catheter in (fortunately, the other one

had taken

enough where I didn't feel it), I heard them ask Dillon the name of our

pediatrician. He

said he didn't know and, at the moment, I couldn't remember her name to save my

life!! I

just kept saying, " It starts with an " M. " " She (and our rockin nurse)

recommended another

guy who happened to be there that day and Dillon agreed. They said, " You can

always

change, but we like him. " Ok. Done. Ethan came into the world a bright purple

angry

mess who tipped the scales at almost 8 lbs! Good thing we had the C-section b/c

the doc

said he wouldn't have made it to the light otherwise....

The next few days were a blur and I got really sick with what is called an

ileus. My belly

was distended and they had JUST taken my IV out as they prepared me to get in

shape to

go home on what would have been Saturday. I thought I'd go home Sunday, but

they said

Monday or Tuesday. Meanwhile, Ethan had developed a little jaundice, so they

were

monitoring that and his respiratory rate. It was sort of erratic. The

pediatrician ordered a

chest x ray and said that b/c you can't tell a baby to be still and hold his

breath, it didn't

take well and it made it seem his heart was enlarged. He was going to try to do

another

one the next day or an echocardiogram. That was Sunday when he talked to us.

Monday,

he came in and said he thought he heard a murmur during his check up on Ethan

that

morning. He consulted with a cardiologist friend who happened to be in the

hospital that

morning and he concurred and said they should do the ECG. Dillon and I weren't

really

alarmed b/c I know lots of folks who have murmurs. Well, an hour or so later (I

honestly

can't remember), the doctor called (and, of course, Dillon had just stepped out)

and said he

was sorry, but the ECG picked up a serious defect and Ethan would probably need

surgery

and be transferred to another hospital. Holy cow...I started bawling and he

just kept

saying he was so so so so sorry and that there were great doctors who would be

taking

care of him and suggested we try Medical City. I had no idea what to do, and

said we

would go that route.

They transferred Ethan a couple of hours later after reassuring us he was stable

(we got to

see him as the flight team brought him by our room). He took an ambulance ride

and

settled into his new " home " with no complications. We are just so thankful that

Dr. Myint

(YES, he is now our pediatrician for SURE!) found this in time. The guys on the

flight team

said that if he hadn't and we took Ethan home, he would have become a very sick

little boy

as most children wouldn't live more than a few weeks with this condition. We

are just

amazed at how things have worked out thus far. If they hadn't taken him early,

hadn't

done the C-section....I don't know what would have happened.

We met with the surgeon today. He is the best of the best. I also got to hold

Ethan! He's

been hooked up to monitors and IVs and can't eat like he's used to, so he was

pretty

agitated this afternoon. Most of the time, he's sleeping and looks like an

angel. Well, they

got to see what our little boy can do when he's angry!!!! It was KILLING US to

hear him cry

and not be able to do anything but stroke his head or try and give him his

pacifier (oh..he

wanted Momma in a bad way!). Nothing was working. Finally, Dillon couldn't

stand it so

he went to see if anyone else wanted to come back and visit while I stayed with

Ethan. The

nurse came in and I started tearing up...she picked him up and tried to console

him and it

started working. She said, " Let me do this and then you can stand over here. "

I was

thinking, " What does that mean? " Well, she motioned for me to come over and I

said,

" What do you want me to do? " " I want you to hold him. " WHAT??? I was so

nervous....but

so grateful. It's truly not allowed but she was an angel. She wrapped up his

wires and IV

so there was no chance I'd do anything to harm him and I stood there and cuddled

my

son....My sister-in-law came in there and saw this and said, " OH MY GOSH!! I'm

going to

get DiLLON!!! " He said when she came out and said he needed to go back there

b/c I was

holding Ethan, it didn't register at first. He was in there in a flash! By

that time, the nurse

had found a chair for me and we sat and loved on him. It was so great!! I have

pictures....I'm working on uploading them now.

His surgery is set for 7:15am on Friday. PLEASE, if you pray, pray that his

CORONARY

ARTERIES will adapt to this procedure. They are what supplies blood to the

heart and are

attached to the aorta. When the doctor switches the two great arteries around,

he has to

move the coronary arteries. Well, they branch off pretty quickly and flow into

all parts of

the heart, so he only has a little wiggle room. If the section he can cut away

isn't long

enough on either side to stay connected and pump blood once they start his heart

back, he

will die. There is a 7% chance of this, but that's big enough for us. PLEASE

PLEASE lift this

concern up fervently. Our little boy is too precious to us and we've come so

far...

The surgery will be approximately 5 hours long and that's just the surgeon's

part. I think

he'll be back there for 6 or 7 hours. Please pray for us as we wait. They are

supposed to

update us every hour or as things happen (good or bad). Dr. Mendeloff is most

respected

in his field and we couldn't be more blessed to live where we live in order for

him to be

the one to perform this delicate operation.

Thanks for enduring through this long email. I just wanted to update you and I

apologize

this is so long. If you have specific questions about TGA, let me know.

OH!! The hole in his heart... real quick...another blessing. He does have a

hole in the

septal wall (the wall that separates the right and left ventricles..the two

lower chambers in

the heart). This might not sound good but it's saving Ethan's life right now,

along with the

artery babies use while in utero. If either of those weren't there or Ethan's

" utero artery "

(not the official name) had already closed up, he would be in bad shape. Right

now, they

are both acting as a bypass so that his lungs are getting blood as well as his

body. The

doctor will repair that hole and then take out the " utero artery " because he

won't need it

anymore. He also may have to enlarge his aortic arch as there could be some

narrowing.

He'll have to put a patch on it as well as the hole in the septal wall. Pray

those hold well so

there will be no more surgeries in his future. Also pray the valves of the two

main arteries

will be sufficient in size as they will have to stay put and adapt to the

switch.

So much for such a little guy. He's a week old today!

Thanks so much....

Amy