An update from Easton's Dad

Wednesday was an important day for Easton. Some clarity was finally received after 20 weeks of uncertainty from all of the cardiologist involved and the first steps were taken to set him on the best possible path. And let me tell you, this little guy's heart is truly as close to "one of a kind" as it can get. To give you an idea, our pediatric cardiologist has only seen one similar case in his 12+ years at TCH and they see it all here.
Wednesday evening Easton had what will be the first of many heart caths over the next few months and years. It was a 3 hour surgery but he handled it without any complications. The goal this evening was to take some pictures, get an definitive look at the veins and arteries of his heart, determine where flow was weak or strong, and intervene where needed.
Before I get into the heart cath, what you need to remember above all else, is that Easton will only have one heart ventricle (his right one). You and I have a left and a right that pumps blood through our heart and lungs. They only started successfully treating one ventricle babies 32 years ago, so the long term strength of a one ventricle heart is very much unknown in the medical community. This also means that he will potentially need a heart transplant during his life span. Not new news to us, but important in understanding the rest of his heart complexities.
The heart cath this evening resulted in the successful insertion of a PDA stint into his aortic arch. This was vital because the heart cath revealed his pulmonary artery to be very small, so small that the same surgeries other one ventricular heart babies receive at 4 months and 4 years old, will either be significantly delayed (years later) or skipped all together. The stint will hopefully allow his pulmonary artery to grow in size which is important for heart and lung function. There were also two balloon angioplasties that were being considered for this heart cath (when they insert and inflate a balloon inside an artery to assist in growth), but once inside, one was not required as flow was strong between the left and right atriums and the other was delayed so that the PDA stint would not be compromised.
His recovery from a heart cath should be speedy (24-48 hours) and with no other planned surgeries in the near future, once he starts feeding well, like any other baby, we can start thinking about going home. That could mean one week or one month. Just depends on his recovery and response to the stint.
So what does this all mean for Easton? Our prayer now is that this PDA stint will assist in the growth of his arteries, allowing the doctors to repeatedly follow up with additional heart caths to take place over the next year and thereafter until growth and stability can be reached. The goal is to get Easton to where the Glen and Fontan surgeries will be of use to him, otherwise, our Dr's will be operating where very few have gone before us.
Looking at his diagnosis and hearing what I'm hearing from the dr, I can't help but know that God has truly done some amazing work to allow Easton a fighting chance at life right now. Why? I do not know, but as I walked back from meeting with the Dr. I prayed, not asking God to heal my son, but to use him and his life to His glory. As Easton's father, that is truly my greatest desire for Easton, to see my son's struggle and life bring honor and glory to the one who gave him his very breath. Pray for Courtney and I, that we'd continue to lay our desires at His feet and trust in His perfect plan for Easton. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for the love and support that you all have so generously given that has gotten us to this day.