The joy of welcoming her first born baby was "a blur" for mum Stacey who "cried for days" when her 11-week old son had to have a life-changing operation.
The Leeds mum said "everything was fine" during her pregnancy but her son Issac was born three weeks early. She had no complications during labour and the birth was quick.
"He was checked over and a heart murmur came up, but nothing concerning," Stacey said. However, a week after welcoming her bundle of joy Stacey began noticing he had a "poor colour" to him, and how his feeds were difficult.
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"Warrior" Issac was struggling and was kept at Leeds Children's Hospital on a heart monitoring and breathing apparatus. Stacey was told that her baby boy had heart disease after a large ventricular septal defect was found.
Issac was referred to Dr Willcoxson from Leeds, but he remained under our neonatologist who monitored him very closely. He was monitored for 11 weeks and it was decided he needed surgery.
Stacey expressed she was concerned about how long the family would have to wait for his operation as the waiting list can often be long. She said: "I read a lot of stories that were full of disappointment for families who were awaiting surgery, but they kept being cancelled."
She added: "It was a Tuesday afternoon; I got a call to say Issac’s case had been discussed amongst surgeons and agreed surgery was going to happen that very week. We had to be in Leeds on the Thursday, ready for surgery the Friday.
"Those 48 hours were the longest. We got packed and ready. We got halfway to Leeds, and I got a call cancelling the operation. They said the surgeon had been in an emergency and he couldn’t perform Issac’s surgery. Fortunately, we got booked in for the Sunday and his surgery did go ahead on the Monday."
Before her son went into surgery, Stacey said she "cried for days". She bathed him on the morning of surgery and said the day was "a blur".
She added: "When Issac went into theatre it was the worst. I walked out of the hospital and went into Leeds. I was checking my phone every five minutes, waiting for the call to say he was out and okay. Three hours felt like days."
Five hours later, Issac was out of surgery and in intensive care. The family said they "ran" to see him and he was quickly showing a positive recovery.
He was on a ventilator for around 12 hours before before being moved onto a heart ward. Stacey said: "His feeds were slowly getting better. He was moved to his own room within four days, and we were discharged just two days after."
Children's Heart Surgery Fund recently celebrated Issac's story as part of their 'warrior Wednesdays' recently. They support Issac throughout his journey, and provide life-saving medical equipment for the Leeds Congenital Heart Unit as well as parent accommodation for families and vital ward resources.
Issac is now nine years old and is happy and healthy. His mum hopes sharing her story and how her son is now, will help other families who are going through similar situations.
She said: "Babies are amazing and they go from strength to strength. Isaac was 13 weeks old when he had his surgery, and he is now nine!"
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