Tyler Thayer   |   May 23, 2016

“God’s plan was for him to always be my son.”

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This is Aiden’s story written by his wonderful mom, Ginger. Thank you Ginger for sharing a piece of Aiden’s CHD journey with us!

Aiden_babyI am a single mom and I adopted my first child, Anna, at the age of 35. Since I was already parenting a child with special needs alone, I was shocked when God placed on my heart that maybe it was time to adopt again. Not only did I already have a child with special needs, I was now in my 40s! But I decided to follow God and I went to the Holt International Children’s Services website and clicked on the Waiting Child photolisting. I saw Aiden’s photo and God had me. I was hooked. This was my son. I didn’t know where he was or what type of special needs he may have. When I found out he had a heart defect I was a little scared, well a lot scared. I knew a lot about Albinism, Autism and Vision Impairment  with my daughter, but not about heart defects! Holt connected me a mentor mom who had adopted several children with heart defects. I also sent his file out to several cardiologists for a review. Dr. Breitbart from Boston Children’s Hospital was the first to contact me. I was amazed because he actually called me, the doctor himself! He explained to me in detail what he could tell from Aiden’s file and what I could expect about his health. Oh, and yes, I had picked a name. Aiden.

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So the adoption process was started, I was in. Flash forward about 1.5 years later and here we are home from China! Aiden’s adoption was so smooth and his attachment to me was amazing. His adoption was final November 5, 2013. Aiden was diagnosed with Double Inlet Left Ventricle. He had his Glenn in China at the age of 18 months. He appeared to be doing great. Soon after his adoption we went to Vanderbilt to meet with Aiden’s cardiologist, Dr. Killen. After, echo, x-rays and lots of tests we decided we would go ahead and schedule his Fontan. So after six months being Aiden_hospitalhome we are at Vanderbilt for his Fontan. He had his procedure June 30, 2014. Dr. Mettler did his surgery and Aiden did great! But any parent is understandably overwhelmed to see their baby like this. But Aiden, in true Aiden form, flew through the process and we were home in one week! One week! He continues to amaze and do so well. I never take for granted how complex his heart is and how lucky we have been so far. But like I always tell people, whether you give birth to a child or adopt them, we must be open to unknowns. Children do not come with guarantees. But they do come with love, excitement, and lots of love. Aiden has only been a part of our family for two and a half years but God’s plan was for him to always be my son.

Aiden’s heart defect falls into the category of “single ventricle defects.” Or, essentially, he has half of a functioning heart. Web-Project-Heart-1-in-100-76Thankfully, much research has resulted in a fairly successful way to mediate single ventricle defects called the Fontan procedure. May children with Fontan anatomy are now reaching adulthood, however, more research is needed to understand how to best care for these individuals as they age. Project Heart is committed to funding the most promising CHD research so that kids like Aiden can grow up and live long and healthy lives. If you would like to learn more about our mission or join us in our cause visit our website projectheart.org.

 

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