Transposition of the Greater Arteries
Hi, I’m Elijah. When I was born I was diagnosed with Transposition of the Greater Arteries. My biological mother (I am adopted) told me my body was blue when I was born. Due to Transposition of the Greater Arteries, my heart was pumping oxygen-poor blood through my body. This is because with Transposition of the Greater Arteries, your pulmonary and aorta arteries are connected to your heart in the wrong positions, so the wrong type of blood gets sent to the wrong places. In this case, your pulmonary, which is supposed to carry oxygen-poor blood to your lungs, is carrying blood that already has oxygen. That means your aorta artery, which is supposed to pump oxygen-rich blood throughout your body, is carrying oxygen-poor, or blue blood. I don’t exactly know how I survived until I had surgery at 2 weeks old. The only logical explanation is I was hooked up to a life-support system.
I got the Arterial Switch Operation at 2 weeks of age. In the Arterial Switch operation, the surgeons detach your arteries from their connections to your heart and reconnect them to the right valves. I could have gotten a Mustard operation, where a baffle is made in your artery to redirect the flow of blood to the correct valves, but my doctor decided the Arterial Switch operation was best for me. I don’t know why. After the operation, I had pipes inserted into me to drain the fluid your heart “weeps” after heart surgery. I have scars on my chest; two dots where the pipes were, a four inch line down the middle of my chest, and small dots on either side of the line where I had stitches.
How I’m Doing Now
I get an annual heart checkup, and have been getting one as long as I can remember. My favorite part of checkups is my ultrasound, especially when the nurse turns on the audio and I can hear my heartbeat. Of course, I like hearing my heart is healthy, too. I also have narrowing of the arteries, where my left and right lung arteries thicken or narrow. I haven’t had any problems with that yet, but I may need ballooning in the future as my arteries stretch, narrowing as I grow. I hope I won’t need surgery, because I’m afraid something will go wrong or my heart won’t be able to handle another surgery.
I’ve been a runner for 3 years now, so I’ve strengthened my heart, which was weakened by my surgery and disorder. Although I run, my heart is still not as strong as other people’s hearts. If I want my heart to stay healthy and able to stand future surgery I may need, I’ll need to keep running, praying, and eating healthy. Then I’ll hope for the best, trust God, and trust the doctors. -Elijah
From Tina (Mom):
Elijah is 13 and in 8th grade. For homeschool this year, he will be contributing as a blogger here! Thanks for reading his first post.
Check out this page by The Mayo Clinic to learn more about Transposition of the Greater Arteries.
To read how he started college at age 13 click here.
To check out some of our favorite homeschool finds click here.
