On to St. Louis Children's Hospital

My parents have had many calls and have heard many others have wanted to call. I know they love hearing from everybody; however, they have been spending hours upon hours on their cell phones as have grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles. Sometimes it makes it hard for them to see me, the doctors and for my mom to feed me and pump on top of it all. So, Aunt Liz has set up this Blogspot for me so I can talk to you and let everyone know what is going on.

Let me start from the beginning. I was born 4/16/08 at 7:07 pm weighing in at 7 lb. 9oz. with a reach of 20.5 inches. I had good Apgars, cried well not necessarily loud but I cried (only a little), had good color and my ears worked well. Mom and Dad kept me the in the room the first night. Mom snuggled me and tried to feed a few times while Dad snored in his comfortable chair bed. In the morning Mom and Dad ordered in breakfast and ordered me up a Circumsision. At the aformentioned Circ., I got a little fired up to say the least, but in doing so it became fairly obvious by my blue complexion that I had some problems. I don't know all the details, so I will let Dad give the technical details.

Madox's oxygen levels became low, so he was started on oxygen, and his levels did not improve. With further examination, they noticed a heart murmur and ordered a echocardiogram, which gives you a picture of the heart and blood flow. A Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) which is a hole between the right and left ventricles was detected. This alone is not that serious and is a "wait and see" type of thing and could have been taken care of in Springfield. A Cardiologist also confirmed that he had Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) which means that his Aorta and Pulmonary Artery are switched - meaning his oxygenated blood is only circulating to the lungs and his unoxygenated blood is recirculating through his body. This requires Arterial Switch which is an open heart suregery and we will have to go St. Louis Childrens Hospital. Which reulted in the helicopter flight. With low oxygen levels he was on a ventilator, but they want his lungs to be fully functional and performed a Balloon Septostomy Friday - which is a catheter that goes in one of Madox's leg vein in his groin and snake it up through the bottom of the heart and through the hole that is allowing his blood to mix. They enlarged this hole and now Madox has been taken off the ventilator. This weekend Madox will be eating and resting to get his strength up. He has passed all the labs and tests and will be having his open heart surgery Monday 4/21/08 at 7:30 am.

So, as Dad explained I am now residing at Children's Hospital in St. Louis. I have currently met all my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. I have also met a whole bunch of doctors along the way as well. I was brought into the world by Dr. Hudec, Dr. Amin performed my cirmcumsision, my pediatrician Dr. Vlahos was responsible for my quick trip to St.Louis along with Dr. Nimavat (Neonatologist) and Dr. Onal (cardiologist). Dr. Rives was the doctor in charge during my flight. Dr. Doctor (really I am being serious) met me at Childrens, Dr. Gandhi will be performing my open heart surgery switching my Aorta and Pulmonary Artery, Dr. Forrester performed my Balloon surgery, Dr. Cecchia will be in charge of the ICU over the weekend and many other Residents and Interns that I can't remember except for one they call Dr. Steve (his first name). I have also been blessed with many nurses. Mary and Lindsey were there to bring me into this world, Liz was there in the morning, and Sue helped me once I turned blue. One I can't remember was on the helicopter ride along with Aaron the EMT. Mary was my first nurse at Childrens, followed by Jen, Melissa, T.J., Shannon, and currently Jennifer. If I forget anybody I apologize, but appreciate everyones kindness and care.

Well we will be posting nearly every day, so if you know anybody that wants this information please pass on the site.

Thanks, Madox and Kurt