A Story of Love and Endurance
By Molly Sullivan Taylor
The second baby was on the way, and Hampton and Theresa Fontenot were pondering what life would be like with two little ones in their lives.
Theresa had a completely normal pregnancy and all indicators pointed to a healthy baby. It was finally the day they would see his face for the first time, the delivery was normal and he was beautiful. He cooed, ate, and made eye contact in those first hours as his family celebrated this new life. Those first moments were so tender and precious, but something was going on that Jake’s parents could not see. Within the first few hours the nurses thought the newborn baby boy looked pale. Soon thereafter their pediatrician told the Fontenots that Jake’s oxygen saturations were low and that he feared something was wrong with Jake’s heart. After another close evaluation, just hours after birth, the pediatrician explained to them that the Angel One transport helicopter was in route to take their brand new baby to Arkansas Children’s Hospital. The doctor explained to Hampton and Theresa that if Jake’s patent ductus ateriosus (PDA) valve closed, he would not live and everything changed in a moment.
The Fontenots stayed behind in Texarkana so that Theresa could be discharged from the hospital and they were given a phone number to talk to a resident doctor who was with their baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The resident calmly walked them through the evaluations on the phone until they could get to Little Rock. Jake was diagnosed with 7 different heart defects and had to stay in the NICU until the doctors knew where to begin. When Jake was a day old Dr. Eudice Fontenot performed a heart cath and decided that on his fifth day of life they would perform surgery on Jake’s tiny body. The purpose of the first surgery was simply to put in a Blalock-Taussing (BT) shunt to increase pulmonary blood flow so that he could grow and become stronger for subsequent surgeries. Jake’s protocol from Dr. Fontenot was to receive the Fontan procedure, which is a series of three surgeries, but the timing of the surgeries would be up to the doctors as they watched him grow and develop. When Jake was four months old he received his second heart surgery and at four years old he received his third heart surgery. Jake’s heart cannot be fixed but the surgeons have managed to reroute his blood flow so that his heart can function. The Fontenots treat Jake just like their other boys. Theresa reports that unless you see his scar you would never know how he started his life. They don’t limit his exercise or activities but his oxygen saturation levels are not normal and are usually at around 90%, therefore, he doesn’t have the same endurance as other boys his age. Jake only has to take a few medications each day but other than that he is just a normal 12 year old boy.
Jake sees Dr. Fontenot once a year and even learned how to knee board from the doctor who knows him both inside and out. With the advances in technology and a 50% chance that he will someday have a heart transplant the family and doctors just wait to see how he does. Jake is 12 years old now, and is a 6th grader at Pleasant Grove Middle School. His 15 year old brother Alec is a freshman at Texas High School and his little brother Will is a 3rd grader at Pleasant Grove Intermediate School. Jake likes to swim, he has played football and baseball in the past and he loves to be outside camping, fishing and hiking. He is very involved in Boy Scouts. The Fontenots are involved in Circle of Friends, The American Heart Association, including the Heart Ball and Jake always has a large walk team here for the Heart Walk here in Texarkana. Jake’s parents used to describe him as a shy little boy but after his third surgery at 4 years old they say his personality changed and he became very outgoing. They describe him as a funny and feisty boy with a heart to help others. Jake’s story is one of love and endurance.
