bing's heart

From an email from my mother this morning:

Good morning all our circle of love,

Thanks for all your calls and visits during our crisis with Bing and Lane. He is resting well with all his family members, awaiting surgery tomorrow.

We have finally found out that Bing’s heart condition is a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. He was what they use to describe as a "blue baby."

I will give you a text book paragraph courtesy of Teri Lee’s A&P class text book.

Tetralogy of Fallot, a complex congenital defect of the heart and major vessels, is the most common cause of cardiac cyanosis (blue) in newborn children, accounting for 10% of all congenital heart defects. First described by the French physician Fallot, the base of the heart seems to be twisted too much to the right, causing the aorta to be displaced to the right. The malpositioned aorta causes narrowing of the adjacent pulmonary artery, which results in pulmonary stenosis (narrowing). This limits the amount of blood that can enter the lungs to be oxygenated.

The reduced oxygen in Bing's blood led to his collapsing episodes. UW did his first repair as a 3-year-old –repairing the septum between the L and R ventricles, which is why he was flighted to UW for the correction tomorrow. He will have open heart surgery where they will correct his pulmonic valve and possibly install wiring for a defib unit and/or a pacemaker. Bing is not a usual case of this defect. He is robust and in shape and did not manifest symptoms until the last few years. We are trusting in our Big God for Him to extend His hand to Bing, Lane, and Maddox to give them the life He has planned for them.

We covet your prayers and love so much.

This is all I've got... Mom's got a friend willing to answer questions, but I won't hand her number out to you, dear internet. Thanks to all offering help to Lane and Bing in Seattle. I've extended the offers and will let Lane take it from there. The good news is that this is the surgery Bing's needed for a while, and he's being taken care of. Other than a successful surgery and quick recovery (he will have his chest cracked, after all), a big prayer would be for financial provision and wisdom for that aspect in their lives.

And he's in good spirits, apologizing to me for not being able to come to Spokane to help fix up the house this weekend. I grudgingly forgave him, even though I was really really REALLY excited for all the time with he and Lane. Also exciting was all the work they were going to do in exchange for donuts, but I suppose major heart surgery on one I love IS more important.