LVAD Living August 2014 | Page 22

A Mother's

VAD Story

I wear red in honor of our son and Hero: Andrew Gemmell, born April 26th 1986 with Tetrology of Fallot.

On January 14th 1987, Andrew underwent his 1st open heart surgery to patch a large VSD and relieve his pulmonary stenosis. He was almost 9 months old. While his surgery had become fairly routine .... Andrew would prove to be a challenge to his Drs.

The evening of January 14th we were told by his surgeon that he had done all he could for Andrew it was now up to God.....and Andrew. He was in critical condition, exactly what his Drs. had warned could happen in those 1st 24-48 hours did happen. We learned in those early days what a fighter he was. Despite the struggle he was alive. While we watched other children having Tet repair come and go from the

PICU .....Andrew struggled to get off the vent. He had developed a dangerous arrhythmia so a temporary pacer was hooked up to the thread like wires now routinely implanted with congenital heart repairs. After a week of fine tuning his Drs. decided

into their own apartment. Andrew's LVAD had become second nature. They are now in the process of buying their first house.

In April of 2012 Andrew recieved his first Defibrillator/Pacer which Drs. refer to as an additional insurance policy! On September 16th 2012 Andrew and Kara renewed their wedding vows, in

what had been planned as their original ceremony, complete with a reception for 100 family members to join in celebrating their life and love ! They took their long awaited honeymoon a road

trip cross country from Syracuse to San Francisco California and back in 3 weeks.

Just before leaving Andrew learned he was back in atrial fib at least half of the time, the plan was as long as he was feeling ok nothing would change until they returned from San Francisco.

Fortunately the trip went off without a hitch and Kara and Andrew had the time of their lives. Unfortunately though when Andrew and Kara returned we learned he was atria fib all the time.

He went back to work but the fib was once again taking a toll. He was admitted in early November started on a new med and cardioverted. He still has been unable to return to work but

remains out of atrial fib and remains cancer free.

it was time to wean him off the vent. In doing so they noticed that he wasn't moving his right arm or leg, a CT confirmed Andrew had had a stroke. By late January it was also discovered that his irregular heart beat was permanent.

February 3rd 1987 Andrew recieved his first pacemaker. Within a couple days we saw a vast improvement. One small silver lining was the fact he had cut his 1st few teeth while under sedation emerging from induced unconsciousness . We were told anything he wanted to eat we should encourage, things like ice cream and cheeseburgers loaded with protein and calories...he ate green beans by the fist full !

Within a couple days, late on a Sunday morning I noticed and was alarmed by Andrew's lack of emotion, a normally happy baby.....he didn't smile nor did he cry.....afraid this had something to do with the stroke... from the PICU I called the cardiologist on call. She said she'd be right there to see Andrew.

After a lengthy exam she took her glasses off and with a serious look on her face she very matter of factly stated, "I know what the problem is.....