Our beautiful baby boy was born on October 17, 2007. We named him Zane Estes Ray Smith after both our grandfathers. He weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces at birth and was diagnosed with a heart condition known as tetralogy of fallot while in utero. Zane is a fighter and doing alright so far, but will have to have open heart surgery before he is one year old to correct the problem. We have had so many people praying for us and have been so blessed to have Zane doing as well as he is.
UPDATES:
Zane had yet another hospital stay from April 3rd through the 8th, mostly for the horrible chest cold that he has had. He was wheezing and developed a fever and so was admitted for close observation. His heart condition really compromises his ability to fight illnesses. His cardiologists have been waiting to do his surgery to get him as big as we can. At first they only wanted to get him to six months old, which would be on April 17th (Yeahhhh!!!) but at his last cardiologist appointment his doctor said that his heart was doing so well that they hoped to wait even longer, up to one year of age. With the complications he had in the hospital we aren't sure if that will continue to be the case. They did have to put him on lasix because he had some pulmonary edema that was pushing his liver down and they were afraid for a couple of days while he was in the hospital that he was in congestive heart failure btu the lasix helped. They also elected to put him on digoxin, a heart medication which both regulates his heartbeat and strengthens it. We will know more at his next cardiologist appointment on April 24th. Keep those prayers coming!
UPDATE: May 15th, 2008
Zane had a big cardiologist appointment last monday and they set the date for his surgery. We are planning on it happening on June 20th, 2008 and he will be in the hospital for a week to ten days. This will take place at Cardinal Glennon's Children's Hospital in St. Louis. They are going to go in and repair the hole in his heart as well as make his pulmonary valve slightly wider. Please keep us in your prayers, if his surgery goes the way we hope it will be the only one he will need for the rest of his life and will go on to live a normal full life.
UPDATE: June 16th, 2008
Zane's surgery is coming up at the end of this week. They have it scheduled for this Friday, June 20th, 2008 at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis. We are expecting a stay of from a week to ten days, barring any complications. If there are complications the stay will of course be much longer. Our dread of this surgery can only be matched by the relief we will feel when it is over and we can get back to our normal routines! Please keep us in your prayers that we get through this with no complications and with our little boy safe and sound.
UPDATE: June 20th, 2008
When we went in for Zane's pre surgery check up it was discovered that he has a double ear infection and of course the head cold we knew about. Because of this his sugery has been postponed. His surgeon doesn't want to put the surgery off for any longer than he absolutely has to, so we are looking at sometime around June 27th or 30th for a tentative surgery date at this time.
UPDATE: August 7th, 2008
Zane had his surgery on July 8th. It went well and he went home only five days later! It is such a relief to have it done and over with. Because the surgeon did not have to cut into his pulmonary valve we are hopeful that this will be the only sugery Zane will need. We have seen a big difference in his energy levels and almost immediately he started eating more & has become much more active. He had a post surgery checkup on July 20th that went very well and we got the orders we had been waiting for for, to take him off all his medication! What an incredible blessing.
We did discover during his stay in the hospital that he has an immune system disease called partial DeGeorge syndrome. Thank God it is only partial, we don't know the extent of his immune system weakness yet but are hopeful that it will only mean he has more colds and ear infections than the average child and won't need to be put on any additional medication. Only time will tell how his immune system responds to illness. He has a cold right now he is trying to kick and seems to be handling it OK. God has been so good to us, thanks to all of you for your prayers and well wishes, Zane is doing so much better!!
UPDATE: October 20, 2008
Zane is doing very well so far and it is hard to believe he just turned one year old!! We had a birthday party for him that marked one of the more exciting events we can remember. Friends and family joined together and he got more presents than he knows what to do with. His favorite though by far was the little red pedal tractor his grandfather gave him! It's a farmall, just like Dad's big tractor! Pictured below: |
