Warrior Wednesday

Bowen, Forever 7wks and 1 day

Pulmonary atresia with an intact ventricular septum with right ventricular dependent coronary circulation, ductal dependent pulmonary circulation, severely hypoplastic tricuspid valve, a left ventricular non compaction, and no antegrade coronary artery perfusion

We found out that Bowen had a heart defect at our 18 week ultrasound. We were told that he would require a stent a week after he was born followed by an open heart surgery around 8-12 months of age and again around age 5. Bowen was born on 7/11/2023 at 36 weeks. He had his PAD stent placed at just 2 days old. He initially did well for a few days but then started having persistently low oxygen levels that sent him back to the cath lab along with a CT scan that revealed Bowen had no antegrade coronary artery perfusion meaning that there was a complete absence of blood flow moving forward through the coronary arteries. We were told he had no or very few but tiny coronary arteries. His heart defect was much more complex and complicated than what we were originally told. It was then decided that we needed to be transferred to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN for higher level of care and ultimately a heart transplant. We were devastated when we were told this would be the only option of saving Bowen’s life. He ended up having pulmonary atresia with an intact ventricular septum with right ventricular dependent coronary circulation, ductal dependent pulmonary circulation, severely hypoplastic tricuspid valve and a left ventricular non compaction. Bowen was transferred on 7/18 and had a SVAD ( single ventricular assist device) placed on 7/21. He was listed urgently on the heart transplant list on 7/22/23.