PHOENIX — On Wednesday, 16 families sharing a unique bond will celebrate a major milestone.
All 16 will graduate from The Cardiac High Acuity Monitoring Program for Infants and Newborns (CHAMPION) Program.
The 16 children – all under the age of 2 – underwent at least two complex heart surgeries.
All of the kids had complex heart diseases with a single-ventricle physiology. In other words, only one half of the heart functions properly.
Audra Hines is the adoptive mother of one of the 16 children.
"His tube was basically closed, so to speak," Hines said about her 21-month-old child Jaylen.
Audra and her husband had to live through seeing surgeons open up baby Jaylen's chest – twice.
"Overwhelming, because it’s been a lot," Hines said.
Jaylen also suffers from a chromosome disorder, which often forces him to eat through a tube.
Jaylen will need another heart surgery down the road, but for now, his mom says he’s starting to be able to be like any normal child.
“He has a great future ahead of him. I know he does," Hines said.
According to the Phoenix Children's Hospital, the first surgery, known as the Norwood Procedure, is performed shortly after birth.
The second surgery, the Glenn Operation, is typically performed around 6 months after the Norwood procedure.
After the Glenn Operation is completed, Phoenix Children’s patients graduate the CHAMPION program.
The final stage of this three-part surgical process is the Fontan Operation, which is performed 18 to 36 months after the Glenn Operation.
By the end of the third procedure, all deoxygenated blood should flow passively through the lungs.
Phoenix Children’s Heart Center is the fifth-largest program of its kind in the United States and is recognized as a national leader in Cardiology and Heart Surgery, where it was ranked 14th in the 2018-19 U.S. News & World Report for Best Children’s Hospitals.
Phoenix Children’s is one of 11 hospitals to receive a top designation from the Society of Thoracic Surgery's pediatric heart center ratings. This is the sixth time in a row that Phoenix Children’s has earned this prestigious designation.
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