In December 2006, he underwent open heart surgery to try and correct his heart murmur, which was later diagnosed as aortic stenosis.
In 2008, he had an artificial valve put in to replace his aortic valve.
In April 2012, Nathan had his artificial valve replaced with a human heart valve, which took him off of blood thinners. After that surgery, Nathan's heart did not come out of "heart block" which meant the top and bottom chambers of his heart were not speaking to each other. So a week after his surgery, he had a pacemaker installed.
In November 2019, it was discovered that Nathan is growing (like kids do) and his valve was getting too small. So January 2020, Nathan had a Ross procedure performed. It was a difficult and long surgery for both Nathan and the surgeon, but they made it. Nathan also had a new pacemaker put in during that hospital stay, which was placed in his right shoulder.
In May 2021, Nathan underwent a heart catheterization to try an uncover why he was retaining so much fluid and why he just wasn't recovering from the January 2020 surgery. His heart was very sick and so he was started on milrinone, which we could luckily administer at home.
In December 2021, we went to the Mayo to have his milrinone dose possibly increased as Nathan was getting more tired as the days went on. They decided to admit him and he was put as 1a status on the transplant list.
On January 13th, 2022 Nathan received the miraculous gift of a new heart from a beautiful donor. He also received something call a Nuss bar, which is attached to his ribs and helps his chest keep it's shape as it heals.
