Care4Conway: Event for Connie's Fund

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Event for Connie's Fund

Hello Everyone! One of Conway's biggest fans, Carol Stadler, has graciously volunteered to organize a fundraising event to benefit Connie and help out with the health insurance premiums (COBRA) and lodging, etc. for his trip to Michigan. On August 24th, from 5pm-8pm, we hope you can make it out to the Applebee's in St. Peters for some food, fellowship and fun--for a great cause! You will also have the opportunity to purchase a "Pray 4 Conway" wristband and give Greg and Mary Kathleen a hug on Connie's big cath/pre-op day. Click on the link above for directions. You MUST present the coupon in order to have a portion of your meal donated to Conway's fund.

3 comments:

barnesquads said...: Hi, I've been reading the posts since Nicole forwarded it to me. Praying ofr a successful surgery and recovery. I also wanted to direct you to a site that assist with medical related travel. THey funded Hayden's cough vest at $17k and are the only foundation we've found that the income requirments are not all that strict since we make too much money wiht all others. This is what they can cover. Just for future reference all though they have quick turn-around time.
Expenses Covered:
Treatment: Expenses associated with clinical procedures, medicine, therapy, prosthesis, etc.
Equipment: Expenses associated with wheelchairs, assistive technology equipment, care devices, hearing aids, etc.
Displacement: Expenses associated with families of seriously ill children who must travel away from their home during treatment—lodging, food, gas, parking and transportation
Vehicle modifications: Expenses associated with lifts, ramps and transfer boards.

THe site is: www.cerner.com/firsthand

Check it out! Best Wishes!
The Barnes Family
www.caringbridge.org/visit/haydenbarnes; August 14, 2009 at 10:50 AM
Shari Peterson - One Day Funding said...: How can I donate if I can't make the event at Applebees?; August 16, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Shari Peterson - One Day Funding said...: Forget my question -- I see now how to donate right on the home page!; August 16, 2009 at 11:59 AM

Conway's Heart Story

Conway's Heart Story

Conway David Beckemeier was born on March 3, 2007. His heart defects went undetected during pregnancy and he was diagnosed at two days of age with L-TGA, a large VSD, sub pulmonic stenosis and Ebstein’s Anomaly. Just before turning six months of age, he underwent open heart surgery to reroute the bloodflow in his heart. Called the "double switch", this procedure is the most technically challenging for pediatric cardio-thoracic surgeons to perform. The version of the double switch that Conway received on 8/28/07 was called the Rastelli-Senning with VSD closure and sub pulmonic resection. He suffered a grand mal seizure following the surgery that lasted over an hour and had several other post-op setbacks including surgical heart block, which required another operation on 9/18/07 to insert a pacemaker. Following surgery and such a long hospital stay, Conway developed an oral aversion (he would not eat) and he was 100% NG tube fed for eight months. He also lost muscle tone and required both physical and occupational therapies. In April 2008, he had a cardiac cath and attempted balloon angioplasty on his pulmonary arteries that did not work. Although his recovery was very long, he had a solid year or so of being a "normal" kid . Then in May of 2009, it was discovered that Conway was having rhythm disturbances, specifically atrial flutter. His pacemaker allowed it to go undetected for several weeks until he showed signs of heart failure and was admitted to the ICU for a week to be placed on IV heart meds and undergo cardioversion on 5/6/09. He went home and his heart function started recovering when he had another episode of flutter (6/16/09). This time, he was again hospitalized and put on IV milrinone, but he converted back to normal sinus rhythm by himself. At that time he was placed on the anti-arrhythmia drug, amiodarone. On 7/22/09 he had to be cardioverted again for yet another episode of flutter. The following week, he got worse instead of better. His cardiologist did a full work up and it was determined that his aortic, mitral and tricuspid valves were all leaking worse and were felt to be the cause of his heart failure. On 8/24/09 he had a cardiac cath and attempted ablation. The electrophysiologist was unable to induce a single arrhythmia. Then, just two days later, he went into atrial flutter on his own. He was placed back in the cath lab where he underwent mapping and a total of 17 burns were made to try to knock out his arrhythmias for good. The next day, 8/27/09, he had his second open heart surgery to repair his mitral valve called ring annuloplasty. He also had a partial Maze procedure done. His surgeries are performed at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). This time he was discharged just six days later! His Left Ventricular function improved drastically. In December 2010 we noticed he began getting more winded during physical activity. A January 2011 cath showed that he is outgrowing his RV-PA gortex conduit, but he was not symptomatic enough to warrant intervention. In April 2012 Conway’s fatigue increased and an echo at the end of May revealed that the ratio between the right and left sided pressures has gotten too high and it is time to replace the homograft that was placed when he was five months old. He had a cardiac cath on 5/25/12 which confirmed the echo findings. He had surgery on 8/8/12 to replace his pulmonary valve and RV-PA conduit, add an additional pacing wire to his left ventricle, and change his generator to a bi-ventricular model which is shown to preserve function and help the heart muscle pump more efficiently/effectively.