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| October 15, 2002 |
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Jake was born at Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington, Illinois. We were so excited to have another son! We chose Jake because it was a strong name.
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| October 16, 2002 |
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Later that evening, Jake got fussy and was not nursing well. The nurse took him for a walk and found his color was not good. The doctor came in and told Kristine that our son was very sick, and did not know what was wrong with him. Pretty soon he was airlifted to Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, IL (60 miles from our home) Upon ariving at the hospital, we were told that our son had severe congenital heart defects. They were:
Interupted Aortic Arch (Type B)
VSD,
Aortic Stenosis
Sub Aortic Stenosis |
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| November 4, 2002 |
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After what seemed to be an eternity of waiting, Jake finally had open heart surgery. He had a modified Norwood procedure. The first in a series of 4 heart surgeries.
The surgery was successful, and meant that Jake was to remain in the pediatric surgical heart unit for approximately 2-4 weeks.
This was very tough because we had been unable to hold him since Oct 16th.
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| November 19, 2002 |
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After minimal complications, Jake was able to come home. We were so excited for him to finally be home. He came home with a feeding tube, medication schedule, and breathing treatments. Jake was not allowed to be around anyone that was sick. We were also instructed to not let him cry, as it was bad for his heart condition. This was a tremendous blessing because he was only happy when he was held and cuddled. |
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| December 25, 2002 |
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Around this time we were able to take him off the feeding tube during the day. He started smiling, was cooing, discovering his hands, toys and voice. He was very alert and his eyes would follow you where ever you went. |
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| January 30, 2003 |
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After months of hard work, Jake was finally able to discontinue the use of a feeding tube. He was able to gain weight by bottle feeding alone. This was important that he kept growing to be a good candidate for the next surgery. Althought this surgery was not going to completely fix all his heart defects. |
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| February 13, 2003 |
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We traveled back to the hospital for a scheduled cardiac catheterization to determin his readiness for his second surgery. The doctors were very pleased with his progress and stated that he could wait until March for his second surgery. |
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| March 8, 2003 |
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Jake had a cold and due to a fever, he was admitted back into the hospital. He was diagnosed with RSV. The first day we thought that he was going to come home soon. |
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| March 10, 2003 |
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While in the hospital, Jake took a turn for the worse. We were told that if he didn't get better soon, he would be put on an ECMO machine. This machine would give his body total rest. At this time we were also told that approximately 1 out of 4 heart babies that get RSV, die each year. |
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| March 28, 2003 |
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Jake was doing better, and to his fortune, was not put on the ECMO machine. He was to be extibated from the ventilator the next day and sent home on IV antibiotics the next week. He was gradually being weaned off the sedatives and paralytic drugs. We were able to finally start interacting with him and seeing him smile again (vent tube and all). Jake was a tough little dude. We would put toys in his restrained hands, and he would still play and try to put them in his mouth. |
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| March 30, 2003 |
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Jake was extibated in the morning. Later that evening Jake was fussy. After taking a break, a nurse alerted me that there were many doctors and staff in Jakes room. They were unable to get his heart beating again and he died. |
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