Last year the Record reported about a baby boy named Zayden. Even though he seemed perfectly healthy at birth, his mother, Leonie van Aswegen soon noticed some worrisome symptoms.
After various hospital admissions, it was confirmed that he had multiple muscular VSD (ventricular septal defects). These defects occur when the muscular wall separating the heart into left and right sides fails to form fully between the lower chambers of the heart. In simpler terms, Leonie heard that her one-month-old boy had holes in his heart.
He wasn’t able to drink his bottle without vomiting, and it was established that he had severe gastric reflux. According to Leonie, Zayden underwent a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), a procedure in which a flexible feeding tube was placed through the abdominal wall and into his stomach. This enabled him to be fed without having to drink from a bottle.
“I am happy to say that then he has reached all of his milestones. He started walking on January 15, and now he’s keeping us super busy. He also started eating and drinking very well. Even though we still struggle with his feeding, he’s doing much better,” she explained.
Although his feeding tube was removed at the beginning of February, the hole hasn’t healed, and might need to be closed surgically in theatre.
“Zayden was last examined by the cardiologist on March 15. We went in hope of hearing that the holes in his heart have closed, but unfortunately it is not the case yet. Luckily my little boy is not in distress or experiencing heart failure at all,” she said.
Leonie is also grateful that he is no longer on medication for his heart. Even though he has been sick with whooping cough for the past week or two, his family remains hopeful for a full recovery.
“If you were to look at Zayden, you won’t say there’s anything wrong with him. He lives a normal life just like any other child. Zayden is great proof that miracles do happen. We were told that he would reach his milestones later than the average child and he proved us wrong. He achieved every milestone as he was supposed to thus far,” she said.
Little Zayden is expected to visit the cardiologist again in six months for a check-up. If you wish to help little Zayden, or find out more, feel free to visit his Facebook page, Hope for Zayden.
