Grant's Heart Surgery

Grant Chosen as Honoree for
Columbus Heart Walk

Grant was chosen as the honoree for the 2005 Columbus Heart Walk. The walk was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2005 and Grant had a great time participating in the ceremonies. Grant's picture and story are featured on the Heart Walk's website. and he was on the evening news on the night of the walk.

Thanks to all of you who have supported Grant's recovery through your kind thoughts and prayers, and thanks to those who chose to donate to the Heart Association on Grant's behalf. While noone should feel any obligation, it's not too late to donate; the Heart Walk website will be up until the end of the year. If you would like to support Grant's team, you can donate online by clicking on Grant's picture below. You can also send Grant an email - he would love to hear from you!

Pictures from the walk will be forthcoming!

Donate to Grant's Heart Walk Team

Connor Welcomes Big
Brother Home!
Dixie's Glad to See
Grant Too!
Amy, Grant and Phil
Recovering in Hospital

Amy and Grant:
Coloring is Good for the Soul
The Cubbies:
A Message to Grant

On Friday, January 7, 2005, Grant Martin (my niece's 4-year-old son and my sister's grandson), had open-heart surgery to correct various congenital heart defects. The surgery was very rare, with a 20-25% mortality rate, but the surgeon that did Grant's surgery had done it four times in the past two years, all with successful results.

The surgery was successful and, after 2 1/2 weeks in the hospital, Grant is back home. He still has to take periodic trips to the hospital until they can get his blood-thinning medication regulated. In addition, he's still very weak and hasn't got his voice back from the time he spent on the respirator -- but he's happy to be home. The family is so thankful for all of the prayerful support they've received.

This website was setup to allow friends and extended family to provide words of encouragement to Grant and his family, as well as to allow the family to keep everyone informed on the progress during and after the surgery. The website will continue to be updated periodically with new pictures of Grant for you to enjoy and with blog updates from Phil, Grant's Dad. Before the surgery, Grant was thrilled to see that his pictures were on the Internet! As his recovery continues, he'll be able to visit the website and see the pictures and well-wishes from his friends. We hope you visit the site often and share in the blessings the family has received through your thoughts and prayers.

The primary heart defect that required surgery was a Congenitally Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries. They performed what is termed a Double Switch Operation on Grant to correct the problem.. The Mayo Clinic has some good background information on this medical condition and the surgical procedure:

In addition to correcting this primary defect, Grant had two heart valves replaced and another repaired. Grant had to have a permanent pacemaker installed as a result of the surgery and will be required to take blood thinning medication. Otherwise, the long term prognosis for Grant is very good. The surgery was at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston and was done by a team of surgeons, led by their chief cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Karl R. Kanter, M.D. . Grant was released from their Cardiac Intensive Care Unit sooner than anticipated and is now recovering at home.

Thank you for all your support and prayers. You can read the blog to see how his surgery progressed. The guestbook has been removed from the site but you can email him at grant@berzerker.net.

God Bless,
Grant's Uncle Durwood
durwood@speakeasy.net

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It was last updated on November 10, 2005.