Sharing Mayo Clinic: Complex heart surgery gives 6-year-old second chance at childhood

2021-03-11 - 2021-03

Amy and Josh Porter were looking for the best pediatric heart surgery program to give their son the best chance at a regular childhood. Then they learned that two of them were working together in a new collaboration. When Mitchell Porter was born, he was diagnosed with heart defects that typically require multiple surgeries over time to fix. His parents, Amy and Josh Porter of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, wanted nothing more than a normal childhood for their son, so they embarked on a journey to get Mitchell the care he needed. Mitchell needed a complex operation to repair one of his heart valves. It would be his second surgery. And the goal was to repair rather than replace the valve. "It was very important to us that Mitchell could play like other boys his age," says Amy. "As an active family, we didn't want Mitchell to miss out on anything." Repairing the valve would allow Mitchell to be an active kid — kicking soccer balls and shooting hoops like others his age. Without the operation, Mitchell's heart would continue to enlarge, eventually leading to heart failure. Surgery was planned for April, but then influenza and COVID-19 caused delays. Although the delay was a disappointment to Mitchell's parents, it gave them time to research and find the best pediatric heart surgery programs for Mitchell's condition.

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Sharing Mayo Clinic: Complex heart surgery gives 6-year-old second chance at childhood

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Sharing Mayo Clinic: Complex heart surgery gives 6-year-old second chance at childhood