Darren and Megan write:

Our son will be needing the Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return surgery along with the ASD [atrial septal defect].  His name is Bradford and we are trying to figure out when it’s best to do it. Some doctors say soon, some say wait til he is at least 3.  He is currently 19 months old.  Obviously, we want to do what’s in his best interest.

Please pray for Bradford and that we are guided by God and remain confident and strong in him during these hard times.

Thank you. Your Website has made me confident that Bradford will get through it fine.

Last night, my Nathan asked if we could pray for the children on his website.  I agreed, pulled up the list, and prayed aloud as he bowed his head.  I thought we were finished, but he said, “Okay, now it’s my turn.”  He proceeded to thank God for successfully getting him through “venous return surgery” and asked God to get the other children through, too.  And he repeated my request to comfort the families.  I look forward to hearing his prayer for Bradford tonight.

I am asking for prayers for my daughter Chloe. We found out last month that she has Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return to the Coronary Sinus. She has an MRI coming up and surgery will take place in the next few months. I am scared beyond belief! She was always a healthy child and this was found at a well visit (the doc heard a murmur)! Please pray to guide the doctors and surgeons to correct her heart and a speedy recovery!

I feel your fear, Janielle.  I can remember feeling terrified when my son had cardiac catheterization, a straightforward diagnostic procedure.  I wondered how I was going to hold it together for the actual surgery if I felt this fearful for a less invasive event.  Remember Philippians 4:13.  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Nathan regains consciousness after surgery to correct Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (PAPVR), Scimitar Syndrome. This was taken in PICU at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Michigan.

Nathan also had heart surgery to correct PAPVR.  Check out this smiling face while he recovered in PICU.  He is doing fine now and barely remembers anything about our week at the University of Michigan Medical Center.

Stay strong–our prayers are with you!

Lisa, I can feel your anxiety.  My son, Nathan, also had PAPVR, but his was complicated by his dextrocardia (his heart was severely rotated backward).  He was successfully treated at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Anne Arbor, Michigan.  I am so grateful that we live in a time of great medical advances for children with Congenital Heart Defects.   Prayers for Gage and to you and your family.

Update (May 4):  Sarah came through surgery!  Mom Kimberly writes that surgery went well.  In fact, they “said it went perfectly!”

Continued prayers to Sarah for a speedy recovery!

My daughter Sarah is getting ready for papvr*/tapvr repair surgery. She is 9 months old and has struggled with lung infections and illness since she was 3 months old. She will be in Dupont Hospital for children within the coming weeks. Though scary and overwhelming, I am keeping my faith the lord will be with her and pull her through this.

Please pray for little Sarah and her family during this anxious time.

*PAPVR = Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return

Update:  Sarah’s surgery has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 4.

This little news segment ran on our local station, WLOX, back in 2007.  Nathan was five years old and was just a few months recovered from heart surgery to correct PAPVR (Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return), a component of scimitar syndrome.  His sister, Michelle, presented him as her everyday hero at a school luncheon.  Nathan whispered to Bryan and me, “Are you so proud?“  Indeed, we were.  Of both the presenter and the receiver!

It was a bittersweet moment.  We had just learned he had congenital kyphosis and would require spinal fusion surgery to prevent paralysis.  That surgery was successfully performed a few months later.  But on that day, he was our inspiration–our hero!

I came to know Sylvie Stephens through the Nathan’s Prayer website.  Her friend, Gail Devine, was looking for information about scimitar syndrome because Sylvie’s baby girl, Sydney, was struggling with this rare heart condition.  My Nathan had surgery three years ago to correct Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return, an aspect of scimitar syndrome.  Gail emailed me about Sylvie and Sydney, and over the months we shared emails that would be the length of a novella if strung together.

I wanted to encourage Sylvie.  I wanted to be an inspiration to her.  Turns out, she was an inspiration to me.  As Sydney began to lose her battle, I watched in awe as Sylvie, determined to surround her sweet Sydney with love and happiness in her last days, put on a happy face and kissed and cooed and snuggled her sweet angel.  Sydney went to heaven in September.

The card’s message is a little fuzzy from being scanned, so here’s a clearer version:

2009 was my best year because Sydney was in it.  May you and your family be blessed with health and peace.  Love, Sylvie Stephens

Nathan Blakeney, EKG Pro, at Children's Hospital in New Orleans.

Last week, Bryan and I took Nathan to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans for his annual checkup.  His heart surgery to correct Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return, a problem connected to his Scimitar Syndrome, occurred about three years ago.  The first year after surgery, appointments were a few months apart, but he has done well, so he is seen once a year now.

I asked the nurse who hooked him up for the EKG (electrocardiogram) if his scimitar syndrome required a different placement of the leads.  She told me the leads are, indeed, placed differently on patients with dextrocardia.  To get a proper reading on a heart that is positioned on the wrong side, it appears that the leads are reversed.

Typical placement of EKG leads

I snapped a picture of Nathan while the nurse performed his EKG.  He has had several of these over the years, and although he was not crazy about being wired up as a baby, he now takes it in stride.  He  giggled  when Bryan told him to be glad he doesn’t have a hairy chest.

Kassandra

I got an email from “Auntie Dalyn” requesting prayer:

Kassandra is my four-year-old niece who will be having surgery for PAPVR in the coming days.  Our family is trying to be as emotionally strong as possible although the daily pep talks to ourselves is becoming more and more difficult as the day of surgery nears.  Please keep her in your prayers and thank you for a website that gave me the information I was looking for and needed.

Friends of Nathan’s Prayer, please remember Kassandra and her family.  Dalyn, I know exactly how you and your family feel.  You know that you must put on a brave face, because you don’t want to frighten Kassandra, but on the inside you feel so afraid.  My Nathan’s heart surgery was also to correct PAPVR (Partial Anomalous Pulmonarey Venous Return).  Handing our child over to surgeons was the hardest thing my husband, Bryan, and I have ever had to do.  My prayers are for you and your family to feel God’s comfort, and for God to give Kassandra’s surgical team wisdom and skill as they work to correct her heart.  Please keep us informed.

Broady Doland

Traci Doland reports that her son, Broady, had a CT scan today in preparation for heart surgery.  Broady has scimitar syndrome, which involves several problems including partial anomalous pulmonary venous return, hypoplasia of the right lung and right lower lobe sequestration.

“We meet with the surgeons on October 26th,” says Traci.  “They have us for November 10th for his heart cath.  So, if all goes well, we should be in for surgery right before Thanksgiving.”

Please remember Broady and his family in your prayers.