

Brayden''s Story
When we found out we were having a boy we were so excited! Baseball is huge in our family and we couldn't wait to have a son that we could share our love for the game with. Early on it was discovered that Brayden had enlarged kidneys so we were sent to our local hospital to get a better ultrasound done. I went in for the ultrasound for his kidneys and I noticed a bunch of doctors coming in and there was a lot of consulting in the halls. Everyone left and they said they would be back shortly. When they came back they informed me that there was something in the back of the brain that didn't look right and they were suggesting it could be a cyst or a tumor. I was told that all of the information would be sent down to Children's Hospital of Philadelpia and someone from Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment would be in touch with me about an appointment for further evaluation


Within hours I was contacted and the appointment was set up. Brayden was roughly 6 months gestation when we went down to CHOP. It was a long day we met with a geneticist, had a fetal MRI, a regular ultrasound, and an echocardiogram Mothers intuition kicked in and I had the feeling something was wrong because they spent so much time during the echo and once again had numerous people come to the room. At the end of the day we sat in a large conference room waiting for the results. We were accompanied by 2 neurologists, 3 cardiologists, our geneticist, and an intern and of course the box of tissues that sat in front of us. The neurologists drew the brain and explained that it was just extra fluid and that at this point it was nothing to worry about his brain was perfectly fine. We looked at each other confused like "Why are the rest of the people in here then?" The cardiologists brought out a model of the heart and told us that Brayden had a double aortic arch or more commonly called a pulmonary ring. It is extremely rare to find in utero and they explained that his aorta grew an extra branch which wrapped around his trachea which could ultimately cut off his ability to breath. We were instructed that he would need to be delivered down at CHOP in the Special Delivery Unit because there was a chance he would come out not being able to breath and surgery would then need to be done right away.
As our visits at CHOP continued Brayden was showing to grow normal and have no other health issues besides his heart. His induction was set to start once he hit 39 weeks to prevent his heart from going into distress. We left our house October 11 not knowing what was to lie ahead for our future but know that we would do everything in our power to bring our little boy home. On October 12 Brayden was born and when he started crying we knew he could breath!! He was taken to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit for the night to be monitored closely. The next day he was moved to the step down cardiac unit and was put to sleep to receive an MRI so the doctors could better understand what his heart's status was. He was deemed healthy and two short days later we were sent home.

It wasn't until March where he developed an awful stridor that was telling us his airway was getting cut off. His surgery was scheduled and took place on March 23rd. He had a left side thorocotomy and despite his reaction to morphine had an awesome recovery and was sent home quickly. Brayden puts a smile on everyone's face who he comes in contact with. We are blessed to have been able to overcome this obstacle and have the opportunity to enjoy Brayden and watch him grow. His laugh is infectious and we truly believe he has a happy heart.

Our mission is to bring comfort and support to as many heart children and their families as we can. We have realized that it's not just heart children in need but it's all the sick children hospitalized so we are extending our support to every child suffering a major medical set back in their lives.