Kyson's heart

I have had a lot of people ask me, "So, what is wrong with Kyson's heart?" and as I try to explain it I get a lot of blank looks. Unless you know a lot about the heart, it IS very confusing. Anyway, I recently found a website that I thought did a great job of explaining the three surgeries he has to go through also known as the "Norwood Procedure." I wanted to share this website and try to explain what is going on with Kyson. Feel free to read as little or as much as you want. If you don't want to read it all, I understand...it's confusing!!! For those of you who are brave enough to read on, here's the website:
http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/norwood-procedure.html?pageNum=2
*The first page is a summary of the three surgeries and the specific heart defects that require this kind of a process. Kyson has the first condition, known as HLHS. In his specific case, his mitral valve did not develop which means his left ventricle has never received any blood. The amazing thing is Kyson's aorta is coming off his right ventricle (it normally comes off the left) so it is completely healthy. This is known as Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV) because both his aorta and pulmonary artery are coming from his right ventricle. This is probably the reason he was able to survive for two months without anyone knowing his condition. I thought it was interesting that at the bottom of the first page it mentions that most infants would not survive a month without these surgeries and yet Kyson was two months old! He is a miracle!

*Stage I:
In Kyson's first surgery he received the shunt and a band around his pulmonary artery. They also opened his ASD permanently between his left and right atrium. (If you watch the video on congenital heart defects, it explains what an ASD is) Opening this hole now makes his right and left atrium just one big atrium.

*Stage 2:
His second surgery was just like they explain. They took out the shunt and band, and connected his superior vena cava to his pulmonary arteries.
They also did one more thing which usually happens in the first surgery but his special circumstances allowed them to wait until the second surgery. They took the trunk of his pulmonary artery and connected it to his aorta. This allows him to have two outlets from his heart.

*Stage 3:
They plan on connecting his inferior vena cava to his pulmonary arteries.

I hope this is understandable. If it is still confusing...I'm sorry. Feel free to ask any questions if you have any. All I can say is it is AMAZING the things they can do with modern technology. As I have said many times before Kyson is a miracle!