Meet Lucian

Hi my name is Amanda Sliva. I am the proud mother of two wonderful boys. I have a two year old and a 4 month old.

Prenatally my four month old was diagnosed with an av canal defect and down syndrome. At the time I was scared what life would have in store for us, but new I needed to educate my self before Lucian arrived. I met with Dr. Clark while I was still pregant and he assured me he would need surgery, but it’s a very common surgery with a high success rate. Leaving the hospital I felt some relief but still a little unsettled knowing my baby would have to have open heart surgery.

Lucian arrived on October 25, 2015 and was born with both the heart defect and down syndrome. The plan was to wait until he was four months of age to do the heart repair. I once again met with Dr. Clark who went over the procedure again and we set a date. March 11 would be the surgery. That day

for me came faster then I could ever imagine. Handing my baby over to the nurse’s was the hardest thing I ever had to do and trust in the doctor and staff everything would be ok. Five hours later, we were told the surgery was a success and in a few minutes we could see our son.

Dr. Clark explained to us the hole was rather large and 3 parts of blood were going to his lungs and only 1 part to the rest of his body. He also States how strong Lucian was and how well he is doing. After only 11 hours he was able to come off the breathing tube and was totally breathing on his own. Each day that went by he was doing better and better. The doctor and nurse’s were so impressed with how well he recovered.

On Tuesday March 15 we were released from the hopital. I can not thank Dr. Clark and the entire staff at Hershey medical center. They truly are amazing. Not only did they take so well of my baby but made sure the rest of my family was ok as well. Sherry and Michael also stopped by while my son was in surgery and shared there story, and although we did not get to finish our conversation because my son was out of surgery and we were able to see him, I was appreciative that they took the time as well.

Lucian is home and doing great!

Thank you Hershey medical center and Hershey hearts