"Sometimes REAL SUPERHEROES live in the HEARTS of small children fighting BIG battles"
Chicago, IL
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During a routine ultrasound, Michelle Lyle and Jason Berry learned their soon-to-be son, Jahmal, would be born with a complex congenital heart defect, Coarctation of the Aorta. With limited treatment options available, this unexpected news sent the family on an emotional roller coaster in understanding the challenges that lay ahead.Difficult though the findings of that ultrasound were, the forewarning of Jahmal’s condition allowed his parents and the medical team at Ann and Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago to prepare for the care he would need from the moment of birth.
An expert staff of pediatric physicians and surgeons met with Jahmal’s parents and explained what needed to be done. Jahmal ended up undergoing a series of surgeries. The first came when he was just 21 hours old—a procedure to cut out the narrowed area or make it larger so it could pump blood to her body;the defect also showed in other birth defects/condition(s), in his case, a ventricular septal defect (VSD), a hole in the wall between the heart's left and right ventricles, in which Jahmal had 2 that also needed patching.
The second surgery took place at 8 months old. Following this procedure, Jahmal’s heart function began to significantly deteriorate. Seven months later, physicians attempted to mitigate this deterioration through an unplanned surgery called, The Ross Procedure. Although the surgery was successful, a year later Jahmal was hospitalized for increased complications from a Cold Virus. Physicians discovered he suffered Cardiomyopathy, from a cold virus which had attacked the functionality of is already weak heart. At only two and a half years old, doctors have come increasingly concerned about the continued deterioration of Jahmal’s heart.
Upon further evaluation, physicians have determined Jahmal will need a heart transplant much sooner than we had hoped.
