Young boy faces life-saving heart surgery
Blake, Emma, Owen and Blanca Bobo continue smiling through what has been a challenging year.
“His cardiologist told us that he’s the sickest kid he’s ever seen who does not look sick. When you look at his scans you think, there’s no way they could belong to this kid.”
Born with a rare genetic condition known as Williams Syndrome, 9-month-old Owen’s aorta and pulmonary arteries are too small. That means his heart has to work harder. Because of this, the right side of his heart is starting to fail. He needs life-saving surgery to decrease the pressure inside his heart.
“Ten years ago, his condition would have been a death sentence for a kid. It’s such a unique procedure that as far as we can tell, there’s only one team in the country that can do it. It’s the team that’s been developing it at Stanford University, working at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. They’ve preliminarily accepted him as a patient. According to the literature, they only do about two or three a year.”
Owen will visit his cardiologist later this week for an echocardiogram and EKG, and for a discussion about the family’s planned trip to California for surgery.
“This year has been pretty hectic for all of us. While he’s working, I stay home and take care of the kids, including homeschooling Emma. I’ve always put them before me. It’s always been about them. During this rollercoaster ride, emotionally, I’ve fallen apart at times. But I don’t worry about me until the very end. I make sure he’s OK, he’s OK and she’s OK. When you’re facing something like this as a family, I think you just learn to prioritize.”
— Blanca Aguilar Bobo and Blake Bobo
The family needs help with costs associated with Owen’s care that their insurance doesn’t cover. Check their GoFundMe page to learn more about their journey and how you can help.
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