patient story

New parents, Breann and Clint Day never imagined their seemingly healthy baby would need to be transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Dayton Children’s Hospital the day after he was born. Griffith was born with a heart murmur that went undetected on Breann’s anatomy scans during pregnancy. When the pediatrician came to the hospital for Griffith’s newborn exam, they discovered the heart murmur and recommended a transfer to Dayton Children’s.

By the time Breann was discharged from labor and delivery, she and Clint were just an hour behind Griffith. When they arrived in the NICU, Griffith was already settled into his Giraffe Omnibed, a state-of-the-art piece of equipment which provides premature and ill babies with a controlled, stress-reduced environment, much like their mother’s womb. Since Griffith was so comfortable, Breann and Clint were able to tour the NICU and learn about the facility.

“The whole experience was shocking,” said Breann. “But Griffith’s care team was so great! Clint and I often joke that every new parent should have to go through a NICU bootcamp, because we learned so much.”

Shortly after settling in, Luby Abdurrahman, MD, division chief of cardiology and head of fetal cardiology at Dayton Children’s Hospital, visited Griffith and his parents. Dr. Abdurrahman did an echocardiogram in Griffith’s NICU room and determined he had a condition known as Tetralogy of Fallot.

Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital heart defect where four related heart defects change the way blood flows to the lungs and through the heart. Tetralogy of Fallot is repaired through open-heart surgery soon after birth or later in infancy. Some infants need more than one heart surgery.

In reality, not many children need heart surgery or heart procedures. Rather than provide services that would be done infrequently at Dayton Children’s, we partner with other pediatric hospitals because studies have shown that centers who perform a higher number of surgeries and procedures also have the best results.

Dr. Abdurrahman scheduled Griffith to have open heart surgery at a partnering pediatric hospital when he was 5 months old. Throughout the whole process, she remained in contact with Griffith’s surgeons and family. “It was amazing how Dr. Abdurrahman was so up-to-date with everything going on regarding Griffith’s care,” said Breann.

Following surgery, Griffith returned to Dayton Children’s where he continues to receive follow up care from Dr. Abdurrahman. At his most recent appointment, Dr. Abdurrahman told Breann and Clint that Griffith is expected to live a normal life and he should be able to participate in physical activities like other children.

Throughout this whole journey, Breann and Clint have experienced a roller coaster of emotions but in each step of their journey, Dayton Children’s has been their constant, delivering exceptional care, always! When asked what advice she would give other parents going through a similar experience, Breann said, “Don’t trust everything you read on the internet! Listen to your doctor and ask a lot of questions. There’s no such thing as a silly question when it comes to understanding your child’s health.”