Our Little Fighter

Our child has a heart defect called Double Inlet Ventricle. People with this condition have multiple defects. Pulmonary Atresia with ventricle septal defect, Ebstein’s anomaly of tricuspid valve, high risk for hemodynamic instability, and so on. The doctor explained everything to us, but we heard little beyond “the baby has a heart defect.” (CHD) A complicated heart.

We sprang into action. We had to switch OB/GYNs to one who specialized in high risk pregnancies. We then figured out where we were going to give birth. After much research, thought and consultation, we settled on Baylor University in Dallas Texas and then Brandon be transferred to Children’s Medical Center right after birth.

After so much struggle of making sure I kept him in the 38 weeks, Brandon Ryan Porras was born on December, 12, 2013 at 9:49 a.m. He weighed 5 pounds 2 ounces and was 18 ½ inches long.  As Brandon was brought into this world it was very important he received the PGE to help him breathe on his own until he had his first open heart surgery. He has had three cath labs and one open heart surgery in 1 month ½ of his little life. His first open heart surgery was to put in the shunt to help him breathe on his own. After a couple of downfalls they have had to go in and put three stints in his little heart to help the shunt not clot and keep the shunt open. He is now waiting for Dr.’s to decide on what the next plan will be. They cannot decide on treating him as a single or double ventricle. On the decision they decide he may end up having 2 more open heart surgeries the Glenn and the Fontan surgery.

My lil man has been fighting for his life and will not give up. This little fighter was given CPR for 39 minutes of his life and put on a machine called the ECHMO which is the life support. The scariest thing I have ever seen. He was on the life support machine for two days and were able to wing him off the life support machine. He is now taking it day by day to recover from all that he has been through since last Monday. With the compassion and dedication of the hospital’s NICU staff- from Brandon’s amazing heart surgeon Dr. G to nurses who so dutifully attended to him ---- has become our lifeline.

They have provided us with comfort, has cheered us up and more importantly, reinforced us that Brandon is in good hands. It has been a long journey, difficult road, and still a long road ahead of us.

When your child is diagnosed with a heart defect, you may think hope is lost. We want to thank everyone for the strong prayers, and support as we work through overwhelming emotions, make vital medical decisions and move forward to find healing and hope. We want everyone to know that Children’s Medical Center in Dallas Texas has saved our lil man and with the kindness of everyone, nurses, surgery team, doctors and support staff that has been amazingly good to my Brandon and ourselves. This whole journey has been such an emotional roller coaster with so many ups and downs and not over yet. With Gods faith and love we will overcome this journey by getting closer to him. This lil man “our fighter” has changed our lives tremendously. We thank God for our lil miracle each and every day that passes by. For those who help out with this fundraiser we want to thank every one of you from the bottom of our hearts. This will help out with expenses on having to stay in the hospital and for all the medical bills.