The pregnancy was going well, but at 22 weeks, during a routine ultrasound, we unexpectedly saw that the left ventricle of the heart was much smaller than the right. We went to St. Petersburg, where Andryusha was given a terrible diagnosis: a severe heart defect: Hypoplasia of the left heart. It was a big shock for us. I never thought that this could happen to us! The cardiologist said that we needed to go through a 3-stage heart correction - Norwood - Glen - Fontan. We were sent to the Pediatric Academy to give birth. On June 7, 2019, Andryusha was born, he was immediately taken to intensive care, they only let him kiss him once. On the 5th day, Andryusha underwent Rashkind surgery, during which a stand was installed in the heart. He was in intensive care for a week, then we were transferred to the department together, I tried to feed him from a bottle. A week later, we were discharged. We returned to our city, bought a pulse oximeter to monitor the saturation, Andryusha had low saturation (oxygen level in the blood was at 85%, while normal indicators should be at least 95%), we had to constantly monitor it so that it did not decrease. When Andryusha turned 4 months old, we miraculously got to the Children's City Hospital No. 1. There, the best doctors performed the Norwood-Glen operation on Andryusha, the operation went according to plan. But after a while, it turned out that Andryusha's left vena cava was thrombosed in the heart, the entire left side from the neck to the chest was swollen. Andryusha was in intensive care, they could not take him off the ventilator for a very long time, he was fed through a tube that was inserted into his nose. I came to him in intensive care, held his hand, talked to him. It was very hard to see him suffer, from a cheerful, always smiling boy, he turned into a suffering child with an absent look. But finally, after a month and a half, Andryusha was transferred to the department, now we were together. Recovery was very difficult! They brought Andryusha to me with an oxygen mask, without a mask, the saturation was falling, with a tube, he stopped eating from a bottle, without a voice, because of the artificial ventilation, his voice practically disappeared, he cried very quietly and was always suffering, he was so bad that he could not sleep for a long time. Every three hours began with me trying to feed him from a bottle with formula, but he did not want to, he forgot how to swallow, I had to pour the formula into him through a tube. It was very hard, I practically did not sleep, but we managed. After two and a half months of trying to start eating from a bottle, we decided to try to start feeding him with porridge and jars of baby food from a spoon. And finally Andryusha began to eat, my joy knew no bounds! For the night, I bought a special bottle with a spoon and fed him porridge at night. Little by little, Andryusha recovered and we were authorized to go home, we stayed in the department for three and a half months.

The whole family met us at home, the children surrounded Andryusha with love and care and he began to develop like a normal child. At two years old, Andryusha fell ill with pneumonia, we were admitted to the 5th city hospital of St. Petersburg, we had already moved to St. Petersburg. There, Andryusha was diagnosed with the RS virus. Pneumonia and the RS virus greatly affected Andryusha's saturation, he could only lie on the bed, they even brought us an oxygen mask to breathe oxygen. He had a very hard time with this disease, there was even a moment when they wanted to put him in intensive care. After discharge, due to low saturation, we were admitted to the Children's City Hospital No.1, where Andryusha underwent angiography, they wanted to increase the branches in the heart so that it would be possible to perform a Fontan operation. But, unfortunately, nothing could be done, because the femoral arteries were thrombosed. Andryusha recovered and we were discharged home. In the winter of 2024, we were again hospitalized due to decreased saturation, because we caught a virus. When Andryusha is sick, saturation decreases, sometimes when there is a very strong virus or bacteria, it decreases to 60-70. Again we were admitted to the Children's City Hospital No. 1, where Andryusha again underwent angiography. This time, miraculously, the doctors were able to get into Andryusha's heart, but it turned out that he had high pressure in the pulmonary artery system

and small branches in the heart, so the Fontan operation is impossible!

We were sent home, being prescribed drug therapy.

Andryusha is growing up as a very inquisitive child! He is very kind and affectionate, constantly showering his mom and dad with kisses. He loves to spend time with his family at the dacha, where we plant, relax and swim together. He loves to go fishing with his beloved brother. First, they rummage through the entire area in search of worms, and then go to the pond. This year, Andryusha also learned to ride a bike, but, unfortunately, he cannot ride for a long time, he gets tired very quickly, and has to constantly stop to rest.

Andryusha really loves going to the pool, he learned to dive and swim with a noodle. But because of low saturation, he does not swim very much, he gets tired quickly, but he still likes it very much!

Andryusha's favorite animal is a cat, our cat is called Barsik! Andryusha loves him very much, lies down next to him and strokes him, and the cat purrs. Andryusha plays with the cat with a rope at the end of which is a mouse, the cat runs after the mouse, and Andryusha laughs.

"When I grow up, I will be a policeman to protect people from villains!" - says Andryusha!

Andryusha and I go to the rehabilitation center, where Andryusha has classes: therapeutic physical education: he really likes to do physical education and likes his teacher, whose name is also Andrey, he attracts Andryusha so much that he constantly laughs.

After we were discharged home, we realized that we could not wait any longer, Andryusha is growing, he is already 5 years old. Every day, physical activity is becoming more and more difficult for him. Our cardiologist has said more than once that we might have to live like this, on Glen, but it is difficult to live like this, with age the saturation will drop even more and Andryusha's life will become very difficult and short!

I sent Andryusha's discharge reports with a request to consider the possibility of performing the Fontan operation to different clinics.

And only Pedro Del Nido, a world-famous cardiac surgeon with his team at Boston Children's Hospital (USA), having reviewed our examinations, believes that they WILL be ABLE to perform a single-ventricle correction of the defect for Andryusha, they see Andryusha as a candidate for the Fontan operation in 2 stages:

1. To improve blood flow to the left pulmonary artery.

2. Fontan operation

The goal of the Fontan operation is to reduce the excess volume preload on the single ventricle of the heart. If it is not done, Andryusha will begin to lag behind in physical and mental development and his life will be very short. Even now, due to low oxygen saturation, Andrey cannot walk or run for a long time, we have to push him around in a wheelchair.

But in order to have the surgery, we first need to restore the lungs!

We are a large family, we have three children, so we cannot pay for the surgery ourselves. In our family, only my husband works, he works as a foreman in a construction company. The approximate income in our family is 150,000 rubles. Since Andryusha does not go to kindergarten, I do not work, but I am with him all the time. The cost of the surgery is very high for our family, in a family with 3 children there are a lot of expenses and we also have to rent housing.

I beg you to help us! Do not pass by our trouble! Our only hope is that you will help us save our son! Andryusha is waiting for your help!

I do not object to the use of information about the child in the media.🆘