About Me

Jason Christopher Howell Jr., was born on August 1, 2011 at 8:51pm. He weighed seven pounds and nine ounces, and was forty-eight centimeters in length. At 14 weeksof pregnancy my husband and I found out that he has Chronic Complex Congenital Heart Defect. He has a list of defects that can seem intimidating. He hasChronic Dextrocardia, Chronic RV Dominant Unbalanced AV Canal, Pulmonary Stenosis, Cyanosis, Chronic Tricuspid Valve Regurgitation, Chronic Pulmonary Atresia, and Chronic Heterotaxy Syndrome. We were told he would not make it and that we should terminate the pregnancy. He had his first open heart surgery on August 6, 2001, where a BT shunt was placed, division of the PDA, and patch angioplasty of LPA. Basically this redirects the blood so that it can go into the lungs and become oxygenated and passed through the body. On October 18, 2011, doctors discovered his stats were dipping very low during a routine follow-up. He was admitted into the hospital immediately where he was closely observed and tested for correctional procedures. On October 20, 2011 he underwent a heart catheter to get a better look at the heart. This is when we found his BT shunt was almost closed off. To correct this, the surgeon needed to place acobalt chromium coronary stent to keep the BT shunt from closing. He had his second open heart surgery on December 6, 2011. This surgery is called the Glenn Operation. It is where they take the artery in your neck, the superior venial cava, and redirect it into the lungs so that it can become oxygenated. The surgeon also patched up his leaky valve. He has already had two heart transfusionsand will need more in the future. He has another open heart surgery and abdominal surgeries. Doctors are amazed at his resiliency. They told us he should not have made it this far.