Relentless Pursuit for a Healthy Heart

As the parents of two healthy children, Denise and David Bailey never thought they would need Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center. Their third child changed all that.

Gavin Bailey was only seven weeks old when he was referred to Duke Children's and within days was undergoing heart surgery. Gavin had a narrowing of his aorta, multiple holes in his heart and thickening of the heart muscle. Gavin's heart was beating 240 times per minute – nearly three times the normal rate – and he wasn't gaining weight.

Several successful surgeries corrected some of Gavin's problems but he continued to have trouble gaining weight. By the time he was seven months old, he still looked like an eight-week-old baby. It was taking so much effort for him to eat that he was burning more calories than he was taking in.

"The holes in his heart had become so numerous that Gavin's heart looked like Swiss cheese and was so thick its function did not improve after surgery," says Denise. "It soon became clear that Gavin's only hope for survival would be a heart transplant at the tender age of one year." A donor was found, and the transplant was a success. "Within a short time – for the first time – his hands were warm," Denise recalls.

Through it all no one gave up on Gavin. "Those talented, dedicated doctors held our little boy's tiny heart in their hands eight times...and eight times they gave us back his life," Denise says. "There were so many times it seemed Gavin would lose his battle with heart disease, but not once did they give up. They are the reason he's alive today."

And through all the brilliant, life-saving medicine the Bailey family learned another side of Duke Children's – that of compassion and family-centered care. "We were treated like family by everyone," says Denise. "They cried with me, they laughed with me. We had a big party for Gavin's first birthday where 200 people came. I would say at least 100 of those people were from Duke Children's."

Today, four-year-old Gavin is healthy, thriving and finally on the growth charts. Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center was with the Bailey family every step of the way and will continue to be for a long time.