Our Miracle Baby

It was a bright Sunday morning at 9:50 a.m. when our Miracle Baby was born. Grandpa Kazy and Grandpa Lewis (both were Pastor's) were late for their church services so they could be there when Trent was born.

Trent had a head full of black hair and bright blue eyes. He seemed perfect to me and his mother. He was our first baby. I was not prepared for the wave of love that washed over me when I held him for the first time. My son!

Sunday evening Dr. Garrison, Trent's pediatrician, came by and told us that when he was examining Trent, he had heard a heart murmur and that, while he felt it was probably nothing to worry about, there happened to be a Pediatric Cardiologist visiting from Little Rock, and he wanted the Cardiologist to examine Trent.

The next afternoon Dr. Garrison reported to us that the Cardiologist had performed a series of tests and x-rays and had found two large holes (he held out his hands and compared the holes to about the size of his thumbnails) in Trent's heart.

We were devastated!

Dr. Garrison assured us that the holes were not presently life threatening, but that Trent would likely not be able to play like other children and that we would have to continually monitor him for shortness of breath, sweating, or blueness around his mouth. He indicated that when Trent was older and stronger, they would need to perform heart surgery to repair the holes. He told us they needed to transport Trent to the Children's Hospital in Little Rock, AR.

He asked us if we believed in prayer (he knew that we were both preacher's kids). He told us that over the years he had seen people who prayed in situations like this have results that were beyond the control of the medical treatment.

Our families immediately began making calls to people and churches around the country asking for them to pray for Trent.

That same day, Dr. Garrison reported that another examination revealed that the x-rays now only show one hole--about the size of a nickel.

That evening, they transported Trent by ambulance to the Children's Hospital in Little Rock and admitted him to intensive care. He was the youngest patient in the intensive care unit and received a lot of extra attention from the nurses for the next few days because of this fact. They liked combing his hair and buying clothes for him--he had an unbelievable amount of thick black hair for a newborn.

Every day the nurses drew blood from his heels (several times a day) and x-rayed his heart. To x-ray his heart, they had to put him in a circular machine that looked similar to a huge vise. The combination of the pressure and the cold metal against Trent's skin would cause him to scream the entire time they would do this. It was like a torture chamber.

They poked his heels so many times that for the next few months after we went home he would jerk his feet back and cry when we tried to put socks on him. He was over a year old before he would wear shoes without crying.

Every day at the hospital the Doctors would come in and report that Trent's heart was a little better. At the end of one week they reported that the hole had closed up and all that remained was pinholes. The Cardiologist put two x-rays side by side--one showing the nickel sized hole, the other showing the pinholes and said that this was the work of the Great Physician, that this was not the result of any medical treatment.

They sent us home with special instructions to check his heart rate and breathing every hour and to watch him for shortness of breath, blueness around the mouth or sweating. He was on medication to regulate his heart rate.

We took him back in one month for an examination. They decreased his medications. He was growing and developing normally.

We took him back at three months for an examination. They decreased his medications again.

At six months, he was completely off of all his medications and growing like a weed. The Pediatric Cardiologist said he didn't need to check him again until Trent was 18 months old unless there was a problem.

When he was 18 months old, they said he was fine, with only a slight heart murmur. They told us he didn't need to be examined again until he was about 4 or 5 years old.

When Trent was four years old, he had his last visit to a Pediatric Cardiologist. We told him about Trent's history and showed him the medical records. The EKG and x-rays showed a healthy heart. The doctor said that if he hadn't known Trent's history and really listened for it, he would not have heard any murmur at all.

The following is a copy of the letter the Pediatric Cardiologist sent to Trent's Pediatrician at that time:

PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY OF TULSA

Charles M. Cooper, M.D.

William L. Jackson, M.D.

Kelly MedicalBuilding #110

6565 South Yale

Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136

(918) 481-4600

September 2, 1993

William F. Barnes, M.D.

525 East Blue Starr Drive

Claremore, Oklahoma74017

RE: LEWIS, Trent R.

DOB: 07/30/89

Patient No: 3514

Dear Doctor Barnes:

Trent Lewis was seen for evaluation. This is a child who in the past apparently was followed in Arkansas with multiple ventricular septal defects in early life. He required medication. Subsequently over the years, these defects seemed to have closed. At the present time, he is seen for evaluation. His activity level is normal. He is on no medications. He has no shortness of breath, syncope or cyanosis. He occasionally has had colds, ear infections and flu. He is four years old.

On examination today, his weight was recorded at 45 pounds, his height was 43-1/2 inches. The blood pressure was 95/60. The neck was without venous distention. The lung fields were clear. The precordium was quiet. The first heart sound was normal, second heart sound split. There was a grade I systolic ejection murmur in the mid-sternal area only. No diastolic murmur. No enlargement of the liver. Pulses were palpable.

Laboratory Data: The chest x-ray revealed a heart size well within normal limits. Vascularity was unremarkable. The electrocardiogram was normal.

This is a child, I think, who has no evidence for heart disease at this time.

Reassurance was given to the mother. There are no restrictions or special precautions. I have suggested a return in four years’ time.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Charles M. Cooper, M.D.

CLC:arc-mti

Trent never showed any further signs of heart problems and has been active and athletic all of his life. He accepted the call to preach when he was seventeen and attended Full Gospel Bible Institute after graduating from homeschool. He made Dean's List his first year at FGBI. He is currently working with a youth group at a church in Virginia.