Our sweet Peter Miles was born in August 2018.  It wasn’t until he was a day old that we had any inkling that he had a congenital heart defect, critical aortic stenosis.  He was transferred to the nearest children’s hospital where he underwent a procedure to open his partially fused aortic valve using a balloon.  Although this procedure was successful, Peter developed an infection that ultimately destroyed his aortic valve and caused an aneurysm in his aorta.  Peter had a very risky open heart surgery to replace his valve and tie off the aneurysm when he was just four weeks old.

After several weeks and a roller coaster of ups and downs, we realized his heart function was not going to improve and he was not going to get out of heart failure.  He was listed for a heart transplant when he was two and a half months old.  His ventricle assist device (VAD) called a Berlin Heart was placed a few weeks later, and would remain until he received his new heart. We knew Peter would be waiting for a transplant in the Pediactric ICU and he ultimatly spent a little over four months there waiting for the transplant. 

Peter received his gift in February 2019!  After 284 days away from our family, Peter was able to leave the hospital and come home to live with us for the very first time at the end of May.  To our great joy, he continues to grow stronger and tolerate his new heart very well.  This journey with Peter has changed and blessed our family in many ways and we continue to document the adventures and challenges we face in our COTA blog.

We are so thankful for the love and support so many have shown us thus far in this journey.  Our hope is that this page is a place where you can come to help support COTA in Peter’s honor,  encourage Peter and our family,and also receive updates and current prayer requests.