Bravehearts of the Foundation: Shivay
October 26, 2020 | Contributed by Arti Barwa
Nothing can prepare a parent for the shock of discovering that there is something wrong with their child’s heart. All parents want healthy children and to be told that something as fundamental as the heart is damaged can be devastating. This is a story of a seven month old Shivay Mishra from Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh.
On 19th November 2019, Rahul Kumar Mishra and Roshni Mishra welcomed their son Shivay Mishra into this world. As expected, they knew that their lives would be changed forever. But at that moment they did not realize how much their lives would change. The couple Rahul and Roshni had a perfect pregnancy and delivered a beautiful little boy in a private hospital with a birth weight of 2.3 kilograms. Shortly after learning that Shivay was not able to breathe properly and also had a bad night of crying excessively, Rahul consulted a doctor next morning from a private hospital for assessment.
After evaluation, it came as a shock to Rahul and Roshni that their baby had a Congenital Heart Defect- Patent Ductus Arteriosus and Tetralogy of Fallot with Ventricular Septal Defect. There was also severe overriding of the Aorta from the right ventricle. Upon hearing the news, the whole world turned upside down for them. They went from floating on cloud 9 to researching and learning as much as they could about this heart defect. Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) can be defined as an abnormal connection between the Ascending Aorta and Pulmonary Artery. Tetralogy of Fallot is a hole in between the lower chambers of the heart called Ventricular Septal Defect, with narrowing of Pulmonary Valve. As, his pulmonary valve was narrow, less blood was flowing to his lungs for purification, and so the oxygen content in his body was low.
They soon discovered that their baby would need surgery within the first year of his life. But they knew to put their faith in God and the medical professionals. After being briefed about the defect from the doctor, his family was referred to Max Hospital, Saket for future course of treatment.
Rahul and Roshni arranged a private vehicle to Max Hospital, about 502 miles away. Shivay’s story was just the beginning and at only seven months of age, he needed life-saving surgery as soon as possible.
They reached the hospital and Shivay was rushed away to be examined by a large team of doctors who were intently waiting to check him out. That examination lasted maybe only 10 minutes, but it seemed like hours to Rahul as he and his wife were nervous of what the outcome of this exam would lead to. An Echocardiography at Max Hospital confirmed the diagnosis. He required an urgent PDA ligation with REV Procedure. In REV procedure, a short left ventricular aortic tunnel is created, thereby eliminating the requirement of conduit.
Surgery was scheduled for Monday (24th August 2020) and Shivay was admitted to the hospital that Saturday (22nd August 2020) for monitoring. That weekend was and still is hard to think about says Roshni.
They spent every minute by Shivay’s side, taking in all the time they could with their baby and informing family and friends of what was going to be happening with their seven month old son- open heart surgery. Rahul and Roshni took a few days to gather themselves, but they knew one thing for sure. They were going to fight as hard as they could for Shivay. But due to his financial constraints Rahul was majorly depressed as he was not financially stable. Rahul is a delivery consultant at a private company with earning only Rs 9,500.
Rahul and Roshni dismally surrendered their beloved child’s life to fate. This was the most miserable phase for the family, but they were constantly praying for their child’s wellbeing. Rahul and few of his relatives managed to deposit Rs 52,600 towards the surgery. But the hardships did not cease here, Rahul required more financial aid to get the surgery done. They discovered our Foundation dealing with heart disorders and were relieved to know that they would get the required financial help covering the expenses of their child’s surgery. The expenses were borne out of our partnership with Lal Family Foundation.
Shivay made it through the surgery like a champ, but unfortunately, post-surgery, Shivay had chest infection and he was put on a high dosage of antibiotics. He recovered slowly and after 14 days he was discharged in a stable condition. They’ve been home since then with no scares and enjoying every minute of it. Today, Shivay is a beautiful active toddler after his heart surgery ensuring his parents are running after him all the time. His parents are excited to see Shivay live a longer and healthier life. Shivay has started to crawl and run around the house. He discovered that he can scream really loud, so he does that a lot just for fun. He has started to eat solid foods and getting really good and healthy. In our endeavour to Save Little Hearts, as a Foundation dealing with heart disorders we couldn’t be happier to know about Shivay’s activities.
