Come join us to raise funds for this sweet baby boy who is a fighter. Named after Chuck Norris' role in Walker Texas Ranger, he is living up to his name.
Here is Walker's story shared by his family:
Walker’s Journey :
On July 18th, 2024, I took a pregnancy test and found out we were expecting our third child! At 20 weeks, we went to have our anatomy scan done. We got pictures of our little BOY and we were over the moon! We were told we would get a call the following day if there were any concerns. The following day, we received a phone call from my doctor, who told us they suspected our baby had a congenital heart defect and he was referring us to maternal fetal medicine in Owensboro. The following week was our appointment, where they confirmed our baby had a congenital heart defect and he would need surgery very soon after birth. They referred us to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and our first appointment was December 20th. We repeated an ultrasound, they took us to a conference room, and told us our baby had Pulmonary Atresia with Intact Ventricular Septum, Hypoplastic Right Ventricle, and a Large VSD. They said he would need at least three operations over 3-4 years to try to fix his heart, and it would be a long, difficult road with many obstacles. They also told us we would need to relocate to Cincinnati when I became 36 weeks pregnant, so they could monitor him closely. Weekly appointments started February 25th, with 2-3 appointments each week to check on Walker. While we waited for a room at the Ronald McDonald House, we drove back and forth to Cincinnati for appointments. At one of those ultrasounds, they told us we would need to have an MRI to get better pictures of our baby's kidneys. The doctors brought us back into a conference room and told us Walker had a Multicystic Dysplastic Left Kidney and Hydronephrosis of the Right Kidney. At that time, the plan was to closely monitor his kidneys after birth. We got a call that we had a room ready at the Ronald McDonald house on March 4th, so we loaded up the cars and made our move to Cincinnati. I continued to have 2-3 weekly appointments to check on Walker. March 18th, I went in for our weekly ultrasound, and they told me my amniotic fluid levels had dropped and they needed to send me to labor and delivery right away for a C-section. At 2:05 pm, our little guy made his way into the world! He weighed 6 lbs 13oz and was 19.88 inches long. They took him straight to the CICU, and I was taken back to the labor and delivery floor. Finally, at 6 pm, I got to see my baby! We soaked up every minute we could, because we knew the days to come were going to be some of the hardest times of our lives. The following day was hard but good. Walker was intubated, and his central line was placed. And shortly after, big brother and sister got to meet their baby brother! They were so excited. Later that day, we sat down and discussed what our next steps would be. It had been decided that Walker would go to the cath lab, at 3 days old, on March 21st, to have 4 pda stents placed. This procedure was complicated by an aortic dissection. We were closely monitored in the CICU, and it was decided that he didn’t need an intervention to fix the dissection; he would just need to be closely monitored. Over the next two and a half weeks, he started to have blood pressure and perfusion issues. On April 8th, he was taken for open heart surgery. During surgery, they removed the 4 stents, repaired the aortic dissection, and placed a BTT shunt. Walker stayed intubated for 2 days after surgery. On April 10th, they extubated, and Walker’s body simply couldn’t handle it. The next day, he was placed back on the ventilator. They gave him four more days to rest and extubated him again. He was placed on a high-flow oxygen cannula. ENT was consulted, where they confirmed Walker had paralysis of the left vocal cord. They began to feed him slowly through his feeding tube, and he began to experience feeding intolerance with bloody emesis and bloody stool. They began to run a bunch of tests to rule out different things. He continued to have the problem, so on May 12th, he was taken to the cath lab to get better pictures of how his heart was functioning. His shunt is slightly perfusing more blood to his lungs than to the rest of his body. The doctors weren’t too concerned with what the heart cath showed and said during this “interstage period”, we have to find his happy medium until his second open heart surgery. His stomach began to settle out after trying some new medications, and we were able to start feeds again. He continued to do well! On May 22nd, he graduated from the CICU to the ACCU! He is continuing to show improvement! We are currently working on getting him to his goal feeds, and then a better feeding plan in hopes of being discharged from the hospital. When we are discharged, it will be to stay at the Ronald McDonald house until he is ready for his second open heart surgery, the Glenn Procedure, at 4-6 months old. In hopes that surgery and recovery go well, his next operation will be at 3-4 years of age, the Fontan procedure.
We give God all the glory. He has been so good to my family. He has done things we didn’t think could be done. Our baby boy is here today because of Him.
We have the best support system. Our parents have taken off work to be with our older two children at the Ronald McDonald house, so we can be with Walker at the hospital. We appreciate everyone who has prayed for our little boy.
We have been showered with so much love, and we are so thankful. We ask that you continue to pray for him as he takes on this journey! He is the strongest little boy I know!
#CHDWarrior❤️
