Russell
Written August 1998

Hi my name is Colleen and I am the mum of a Heart Kid. His name is Russell Dean. Russell was born 5th September 1991. It was soon discovered that he had a condition called Transposition of the Great Vessels. A cardiac specialist came from the Children's Hospital and told us that he would have to be taken to the Children's and have an operation called a balloon septostimony. I couldn't believe there was anything wrong with him, he was gorgeous. He had platinum blonde hair with blue eyes and he weighed approx. 10lb. The nurse told us that he couldn't be weighed exactly because of the life support tubes that were all over him.

Friday morning Russell was taken to the Children's Hospital in Adelaide and had his septostimony which had to be repeated that night. He was so healthy (apart from his heart) that his body was trying to repair the hole that the surgeons had put there to stabilize him for his flight to Melbourne. He had had his first major hitch in the ICU, his lung collapsed. They inserted an intercostal drain and started more IV antibiotics. Monday morning Russell flew to Melbourne and had his operation on Wednesday 8:00 am.

Things went well for the op. The surgeon said that he behaved himself perfectly (believe me - we smiled at that one). Thursday was a set back he developed a major infection in the lung that collapsed and had to stay in the ICU for a while longer (it was a very depressing place).

Russell's condition continued to deteriorate and by Sunday , we weren't sure he was coming home. He had trouble absorbing the gastric feeds and we had to aspirate him every two hours. He hated it, every time someone came near him he screwed up his face and tried to cry. There was no sound just tears, it was tough watching my little man panic when someone touched him.

Eventually the gastric surgeons had to come down and see him. They strongly suspected a major twist in the bowel which can sometimes happen as a result from anaesthesia. The decision was to leave him for another day or so and see if it would right it self. The next option was more surgery but it was better for him to wait.

We waited until Thursday and still he had not absorbed anything so the gastrics came back to assess him. They were still discussing him when he finally decided he'd had enough. Russell absorbed 4 mls of breast milk! It must have been the turning point because from that day onwards he thrived. Russell left Melbourne on Tuesday 23rd of September weighing in at 7lbs, but definitely in a lot better shape than what he was in when he got there.

We all flew home together Mike, myself and our boys. He had a short stay in Adelaide Children's for post-op convalescence care. To be honest, sometimes I feel those few weeks in our lives must have the most testing times any one could have gone through, then you hear of those who have been through much more than we have and you cant help but think, God were we lucky!

Russell still has some hurdles to overcome. He still has a small hole in his heart which they are considering surgery for, but not just yet. He also has just been diagnosed as having ADHD and the treatment for that can be harsh, but like the doctors keep telling me "one step at a time".

I'm still not sure that he will be OK, but the truth of the matter is that life has no guarantees and I will do my best to help him overcome any difficulties he or any of my other children will come across. As soon as we have more news on Russell I will be sure to update. I would love to hear from anyone else that has any information pertaining to TGA.