Nolan’s story begins at the 20wk anatomy scan ultrasound. What started as a routine ultrasound quickly turned our lives upside down, our one-hour appointment turned into 3hours and many questions left unanswered. The next couple of weeks became a waiting game for a diagnosis, first with appointments at McMaster Hospital followed by more appointments at SickKids Hospital. Through a fetal echo at SickKids, our baby was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) called Truncus Arteriosus Type 2. Nolan’s heart had only one vessel (trunk) instead of two, what should have been the aorta and pulmonary artery was only the aorta and a large hole was left between the ventricles to allow for blood flow in and out of the heart. The rest of the pregnancy consisted of routine appointments for fetal echos at SickKids and monitoring at McMaster and Mount Sinai. Nolan was born full-term via Csection at Mount Sinai Hospital and the team from SickKids was there to receive him immediately after birth and took him through the underground tunnel that connects the two hospitals. We had 8 days with Nolan in the hospital before he had his open-heart surgery (OHS) at 9 days old. We anxiously waited for 10 hours to see our baby boy again. During his OHS he was put on bypass for over 2hrs, a machine to continue the blood flow to his brain and other organs while his heart was stopped to allow the amazing surgeons to repair it the very best they could. The surgeons did an absolutely incredible job, placing a bovine conduit in Nolan’s heart to act as his pulmonary artery and patching the hole between the ventricles. They also had to detach his right and left pulmonary arteries from his aorta and attach them to the conduit. After a 3week recovery with some minor complications, we were able to bring our baby boy home to meet his siblings.
Before he was even born, through a fetal echo at SickKids, our Wish Kid was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) called Truncus Arteriosus Type 2. At 9 days old, he had his first surgery. Now, 5 yrs and SO many hospital visits later, he has shown us what a true Heart Warrior he is! He is a happy, typical 5yr old boy who is full of energy, loves soccer and Superhero’s and will put on a princess dress to play with his sister or the goalie gear to play hockey with his brother.
He’s now strong enough to fully enjoy his wish: a trip to Disney and Legoland!
We were told about the Guelph Wish Fund from another Heart Mom and are absolutely blown away by the generosity and caring this fund offers. -Nolan’s mom and dad
Click here to help other wish kids fulfill their dreams!
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