Meet Micah and Jonah

It's a lot of work to have two boys with CHD, but this family is a source of inspiration!

The Peters boys had their congenital heart defects operated on in July of 2016 by Dr. Reed Quinn at Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland, Maine. Micah and Jonah both were born right aortic arches (or a variance of) and vascular rings. A vascular ring supposedly clocks in roughly 1 in every 10,000 of congenital heart defects. It wraps around and compresses from the heart onto the trachea and esophagus and can cause breathing and swallowing issues. Micah's right aortic arch was detected during pregnancy, but the ring diagnosed later with further testing. Jonah, was fully detected/known in utero. Micah, for one, avoided many foods, before surgery. The family personally believe these rings are much more common, and that technology is helping many find and repair them. Symptoms such as asthma, choking, vomiting, reflux, etc. can point to a ring. Usually, a ring is best seen through a barium swallow test, MRI, or CT scan. Other factors can be a part of a vascular ring, including a divircukictum of kommerell, which is a type of aneurysm. They saw a small one of these on Micah, during a pre-op echo, but when the surgeon went in the next day, he didn’t see it. The family attributes every step of their journey to faith. Joel and Callie both work in a local school, and also serve in their local children’s ministry at their church. They recently won a photo contest and chose It’s My Heart New England as their charity choice. They are thankful to God for all He’s done for them.