Please
pray for Kaston
from Amarillo, Texas, USA
Joined
2hearts March 2004
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Birthday Past updates on 2hearts |
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Kaston
Lane Snyder was born on 11-22-02, in Amarillo, Texas after an
uncomplicated, normal pregnancy, weighing in at 7 lbs. and 21
inches long. Upon delivery, he was extremely blue & therefore
immediately taken to the nursery for oxygen. After being there
for a few hours, they transferred him to PICU for further evaluation.
His pediatrician had his lungs checked out - everything looked
good - so he further evaluated his heart. Upon consultation with
the only pediatric cardiologist in Amarillo, Dr. Eugene Luckstead,
it was discovered that Kaston had 2 holes in his heart and his
tricuspid valve was just a solid wall of tissue, therefore restricting
the bloodflow to his lungs. Lucky for Kaston, the holes in his
heart were abnormally large, allowing sufficient oxygen levels
to his body. He was released from the hospital at only 5 days
old - no machines or meds!
His
pediatrician advised us that it was best for him to be in a secluded
surrounding to eliminate infection from other people. We were
right in the middle of flu season along with all the other winter
illnesses. I had a decent paying job that I loved, but had no
one to watch Kaston & his sister, Korah. Korah was 3 1/2 when
Kaston was born and until then, was watched by an older lady that
had school aged grandchildren that lived with her (lots of germs
nonetheless)! So after prayerful consideration and a total financial
blessing from God, I quit my wonderful job of 6 1/2 years (mind
you, I'm only 28)! I have to say that I believe that decision
was the hardest decision of my life.
Kaston
had a great first winter with only small infections, requiring
no hospitalization. His pediatrician, Dr. Young kept up with his
every movement and treated him like he was one of his own. He
is a very devout Christian man, even singing in a local Christian
"barbershop" group that competes in our area! He is
known throughout the medical community as a genius. He is the
father of 4 girls and is definitely a family man! He is very personable
& I don't know what we would have ever done without all the
support he has given our family through this time in our lives!
He is actually the one that sat us down at the hospital to tell
us that there was something terribly wrong with our baby. But
it helped coming from someone that we already knew & had a
previous relationship with (also Korah's pediatrician).
Kaston
began to show signs of heart failure around March, so we began
to prepare for our journey to Dallas (about 6 hours from where
we live) for his first open-heart surgery. We had nowhere to stay
while we were there and were needing to plan to be there for about
2 to 3 weeks. By this time, we had figured out that we didn't
qualify for any financial assistance from any agency (my husband
is a police officer and makes $49.50 too much to qualify for disability!)
so we just figured we'd live off of our credit cards. But, I'm
sure you know that God always provides! Between my old co-workers,
the police dept., and other donations from friends & family
members, we were given almost $4,000 to help out with expenses!
Kaston
had his 1st heart cath. in Dallas in April '03 (age 5 months)
& it was determined that he would need the Bi-directional
Glenn Shunt. So, we headed back to Children's Medical Center of
Dallas at the end of May (still no meds, no machines) for his
1st open-heart surgery. Dr. Hisashi Nikaidoh (a mid-70's Japanese
man) was his surgeon. Also a remarkable gift from the Lord. He
and his entire staff pray before each surgery. If you don't pray,
you're not on his staff! Things went well, with the exception
of a paralyzed diaphragm, which caused the upper lobe of his right
lung to collapse, bringing his O2 stats down to the high 40's,
lower 50s. It was touch & go for a while, but everyone was
very reassuring. At one point, he was in the mid-40's and so Bob
& I prayed over him & anointed him with oil. We left him
for about an hour, and when we got back, his nurse asked us what
we did to him because as soon as we left, he went up to almost
60! I just told her that it was God that touched him because we
had prayed over him!
He
was in ICU for 7 days, and was released from the hospital after
only 10 days total! Bob & I were so impressed with the staff
at Children's; everyone from the cleaning staff to the physicians
were the most helpful and friendly people. We did not have one
bad experience. We just figured that we had God's favor!
Our
family loves to go camping and be in the outdoors and Kaston was
able to go camping only 2 weeks after surgery. He has had a remarkable
recovery and has not been behind developmentally at all since
his surgery! He is a normal, very active 14-month old little boy!
Our
daughter, Korah, (now 4 1/2) has adjusted well and is a beautiful
little girl. She is very independent and has a very free spirit
inside of her. She plays "doctor" all the time and says
that she wants to be a kid heart doctor to help the kids like
her 'bub' when she grows up.
Kaston
still goes to the PC regularly and is only on 2 meds (digoxin
& baby aspirin). We still go to the pediatrician once a month
to get the synagis vaccination (for RSV). Although, we usually
are there 4 or 5 times a month for illness this winter. He's been
pretty sick the last few months. He was in the hospital for dehydration
in October. And since then he's had strep, the flu, bronchitis,
2 ear infections, about 4 nose infections, hand-foot-mouth disease,
diarrhea, and runs fever about once a week for whatever reason.
But he's actually been very lucky to not have had anything really
severe. Dr. Young keeps close tabs on him. The only bad part is
that every time he's on an antibiotic, he gets horrible diarrhea
and we have to watch him really close for dehydration. But I really
can't complain; things could be oh so much worse.
His
next surgery (the Fontan) is not currently scheduled, but we have
been advised it could be anywhere from the age of 18 months to
3 1/2 years. We'll know it's time when he begins to go in congestive
heart failure again; so I guess it's just hurry up & wait!
Kaston
has been so blessed by his medical team that I can't even begin
to tell you how important they have been in his life! I think
every dr. and nurse that has taken care of him is God-fearing
and I know each of them pray for him. I believe that God has healed
him through the hands of his wonderful doctors & nurses.
I
think every family goes through "Why us?", but we can't
question God, just realize that everything happens for a reason.
We're coming to see that it's not all that bad and it's just made
us rely on God much more in our lives. He really let us know the
hard way that we're not in control of our future. When you're
young and have your full life in front of you, you have this picture
of how things are going to be, but in a moments notice, the next
40 years of your life has been drastically changed. Thankfully,
we've got the Lord to lean on and help us through the tough times.
I just don't see how non-Christians get through those tough times.
People are astounded at how calm and collected we are with Kaston's
health situation, but I'm always quick to remind them that we
have the Peace of God upon us. We both feel that this has been
a great testimony to others and God only knows what it will bring
for our children's lives.
Thank
you for letting me share our son's story with you. I only pray
that others realize that there is a peace out there that only
comes by having the Lord Jesus in their lives.
Jamie and Bob Snyder
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2002 David McFarland http://2hearts.co.uk
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