Welcome to the CaringBridge site for Hunter Gillette.
Hunter was born with only one ventricle in his heart. The medical description of his defect is, "double inlet, single ventricle, sub-pulmonary stenosis, mitral atresia, transposition of the great arteries, ASD and VSD." The wonderful medical team at Sanger Clinic here in Charlotte performed a two-stage "Fontan" surgery on Hunter when he was three months and eighteen months old. The Fontan routes "blue" blood from his Vena Cava directly to his lungs, rather than through his heart as in normal anatomy. During another surgery on his first birthday, Hunter had a pacemaker installed to keep his heart beating.
Hunter lived an active life playing baseball, soccer, water skiing, kneeboarding, Ultimate Frisbee and Disc Golf. He even hiked the Austrian Alps in 2016! Though he endeavored to complete a college degree, several health crises required him to drop out of school. During the 2016-2017 academic year, Hunter served as an intern in his church's college ministry on the UNCC campus. He also enjoyed playing and listening to music, drawing, wood-working crafts and working on his 1991 Jeep Cherokee.
In 2013 a "revision" to the Fontan was performed (major open heart surgery), and in 2015 he suffered a brain abscess requiring emergency brain surgery. His cardiovascular condition has resulted in Cirrhosis of the liver. In July 2017 Hunter's Alpha Fetoprotein went from 30 to 3,000 indicating liver cancer (a bi-product of the Cirhossis). In August 2017 Hunter was diagnosed with MRSA Staph infection landing him in the hospital. The MRSA infection recurred in November 2017, and his Alpha Fetoprotein increased to 30,000 indicating an increase in the liver cancer.
November 11, 2017, Hunter suffered a moderate stroke while in the hospital recovering from the MRSA infection. Thankfully within minutes, he was able to be rushed into a CT scan and emergency surgery where the medical team removed the clot in his left temporal lobe, preventing much more extensive damage. The stroke has left him with aphasia, which is the loss of ability to understand or express speech, caused by brain damage. He made progress each day in regaining his speech and cognition, though never fully 100% recovered.
The liver cancer progressed landing him back in the hospital end of November, and Alpha Fetoprotein of 160,000. He had his final discharge from the hospital early in December, 2017, coming home under Hospice care with a terminal prognosis.
Hunter's health deteriorated through December with Alpha Fetoprotein climbing to 260,000. His two sisters, son-in-law, and niece and nephew were able to be in town beginning December 16. Though tired and sleeping a lot, Hunter had many alert, clear-minded times and was able to walk and have minimal pain up to his last minutes. We each took turns sleeping by his side, caring for his needs, and talking and laughing with him about life, death and more.
Christmas Day Hunter made it downstairs to join us for a time of opening gifts. At the end of an enjoyable and meaningful Christmas Day, 2017, after the grandkids were asleep, Hunter had an episode that appeared to be a severe stroke lasting for about 15 minutes. He was in his sister’s, Ivy and Sarah's arms, and his mother and father, brother-in-law and cousin were by his side. He exited a failing body and is now enjoying wonderful bliss with his savior.
Hunter trusted Christ with his life, knowing that the God of heaven and earth had died for his sins. God had lavished His grace and mercy on him and he lived in peace, free from guilt and fear. In Christ, his life was rich with hope, peace, and joy in the midst of the hardest times. He radiated that hope, peace, and joy to everyone he encountered and to every project he undertook. His peaceful demeanor and thankful attitude with a lack of complaining and sense of humor made him a delight to be around and a star patient with his many medical team members.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 6, at 2:00 p.m. at Crossway Community Church, 6400 Prosperity Church Rd, Charlotte, NC 28269. Memorials may be made to Camp Luck (campluck.com). You can read his obituary here:
http://jamesfuneralhomelkn.com/hunter-gillette 
