Ethan’s Journey

My kid needs a heart transplant.  Those are hard words to hear.  17 1/2 years ago, Ethan graced us with his presence.  He was a healthy little 8 lb 4 oz boy.  He was a good little baby. He was friendly, usually only cried if hungry, tired or soiled. When he was 8 months old, Ethan was diagnosed with Shone Syndrome.  It was found by accident.  He had the sniffles and I wanted to make sure he was going to be healthy enough for his upcoming inguinal hernia repair.  His doctor detected a murmur.  She called and got us an appointment within 2 hours at pediatric cardiology.  6 hours later......He had a narrowed mitral valve, narrowed aortic valve, bicuspid instead of a tricuspid aortic valve and a narrowed aorta.  His aorta was so narrowed that he needed to have surgery.  He had to have the narrowed portion removed and the aorta re-attached so he could get normal blood flow to all his cute little fingers and toes.  They cut his blood...