o What: Yard sale and raffle benefit for Jack Conover.
o When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 28.
o Where: Pleasant View Church of the Nazarene, 801 N.E. 194th St., Ridgefield.
o Why: Money raised will help the family pay for expenses related to Jack’s hospital stay in Seattle. Money that is not needed will be donated to Seattle Children’s Hospital.
o Other ways to help: Financial donations can be made online.
o Follow Jack’s progress on the “Jack’s Journey” Facebook page.
Jack Conover was just 4 days old when he had his first open-heart surgery. The second came four months later.
o What: Yard sale and raffle benefit for Jack Conover.
o When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 28.
o Where: Pleasant View Church of the Nazarene, 801 N.E. 194th St., Ridgefield.
o Why: Money raised will help the family pay for expenses related to Jack's hospital stay in Seattle. Money that is not needed will be donated to Seattle Children's Hospital.
o Other ways to help: Financial donations can be made online.
o Follow Jack's progress on the "Jack's Journey" Facebook page.
On Saturday, 7-year-old Jack had what his parents hope will be his last heart surgery for at least 15 years.
The Ridgefield boy, born with a congenital heart defect, underwent a heart transplant in the early morning hours at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
“We got it just at the right time,” said Kelly Conover, Jack’s mom. “He wasn’t able to get too sick.”
That’s not to say Jack was healthy. Far from it.
Prior to the transplant, Jack’s oxygen saturation was about 74 percent. He quickly became out of breath and didn’t have the energy to be active. He couldn’t play sports, though he loved to watch them, and he was never able to keep up with other kids.
After the transplant, Jack’s oxygen saturation jumped back up to 98 percent, which is considered normal. He’s healing well and, while he is in pain, he has managed a few smiles.
“It’s hard to see your baby in so much pain,” Conover said. “But recovery wise, he’s doing amazing.”
The call
The transplant was something Jack’s family had anticipated for years.
When Conover was 18 weeks’ pregnant she learned Jack had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare defect in which the left side of the heart is critically underdeveloped. She delivered Jack four weeks early on May 10, 2007.
Jack’s two heart surgeries were part of a three-step surgical procedure. After a couple years of routine visits with cardiologists, the family learned Jack was not a candidate for the third heart surgery, which typically occurs before the age of 3. Jack’s heart was too weak.
Cardiologists in Portland and Seattle continued to monitor Jack’s condition, adjusting his medications to keep him stable. That worked until February, when they learned Jack’s heart function was declining. He was showing signs of heart failure.
After countless tests, evaluations and meetings at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Jack was added to the heart transplant list on March 28.
On Friday evening, Conover, her fiancé and Jack’s dad, Kris Anderson, Jack and his brother, Patrick, had just returned to town from a trip to Chehalis. They were filling up their gas tank before heading home when Conover’s cellphone rang.
Seattle Children’s Hospital had a heart for Jack. The family headed straight for Seattle.
They got to the hospital at about 11:30 p.m. Jack was immediately taken back to be prepped for surgery, and by 2 a.m. they were wheeling him into the operating room. At about 3 a.m., Conover and Anderson were told the surgery was beginning.
The surgery took 5½ hours.
“It was nerve-racking,” Conover said. “I literally went through every emotion you could imagine.”
“The day went really, really slow,” she added.
Everything went well in Jack’s surgery. Now, he begins the months-long recovery process.
Jack will remain in the intensive care unit at Seattle Children’s Hospital for another week or so. Then, he will spend a few weeks on the hospital’s cardiac floor.
After that, Jack will need to stay in Seattle for at least two more months. He’ll undergo multiple labs and tests each week to monitor his heart function and ensure his body isn’t rejecting the heart, Conover said.
Conover quit her job when she got the transplant call in order to stay with Jack in Seattle. She’s on the waiting list for a room at the Ronald McDonald House there but is unsure whether a room will become available.
Anderson will likely return home and go back to his job once Jack is out of the ICU. In the meantime, Patrick, 4, is staying with family in Vancouver.
The family’s church, Pleasant View Church of the Nazarene, is holding a yard sale June 28, a Saturday, to raise money for the family.
“Most people don’t realize that just because we have insurance to cover the surgery, we do not have insurance to cover lodging, gas and food,” Conover said.
Jack likely won’t start second grade with his classmates at South Ridge Elementary School this fall, but Conover is hopeful he’ll join his class later in the year.
Once he’s given the all-clear, she suspects her active 7-year-old will want to try some of the things he’s never got to experience.
“He loves to play,” she said. “He loves sports even though he was never allowed to play them. He’s looking forward to that.”
He’s always liked watching his uncle play baseball, and he’s talked about playing soccer with his older half-brothers, Conover said. He also loves football, she said.
“His new favorite is Russell Wilson,” Conover said.
Prior to the transplant, Make a Wish was working to grant Jack’s wish: to meet Wilson, quarterback of the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. That’s been put on hold, but Jack may get his wish anyway. Wilson makes weekly visits to patients at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
“We are hoping we see him at some point during our stay,” Conover said.
If all goes well while he’s in Seattle, Jack shouldn’t have any more physical restrictions. He will be on medications for the rest of his life, and he will likely need another heart transplant in 15 to 20 years, Conover said.
Until then, though, his body will finally be able to keep up with him.
