出生时就有严重的心脏缺陷，9岁的孩子克服了一切困难

她怀孕20周了, 汉娜•刘易斯 eagerly went to a doctor's visit expecting to learn the sex of her first child. 只有19个, 即将成为母亲的路易斯既兴奋又紧张, 当她知道自己怀了个男孩时非常激动.

But that day, her doctor returned to the examination room with a worried look on her face.

她说，婴儿的器官看起来都很健康——除了心脏.

A pediatric cardiologist diagnosed the baby with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, 或通过, 一种罕见的左心脏发育不全的疾病, 迫使右侧加倍努力工作. Days later, doctors at a children's hospital in Nashville, 田纳西州, confirmed the diagnosis.

But Lewis' faith gave her the strength to believe she was meant to raise this child as a single mother.

"My mom raised my sister and me as a single mom and I grew up poor and had lots thrown at me, 我知道我能处理好,她说. “毫无疑问，无论如何，一切都会好起来的."

The rest of the pregnancy was filled with checkups and tests but remained uneventful. 然后, 37周时, 医生发现他患上了胎儿水肿, a life-threatening condition in which an abnormal amount of fluid accumulates in the tissue around the lungs, 心脏或腹部, 或者在皮肤下面.

引产导致了剖宫产. 并发症使她休克. Still, she remembers hearing her son cry 第一次 and finding comfort in that.

“他们只让我看了他一秒钟，”她说. “显然，我对他一见钟情, but I was super scared because they took him directly to the heart cath lab and for like 12 hours, 我们不知道发生了什么. 我病得很重，所以他们不让我去看他."

She named him Bennett after learning the moniker means "God's gift of hope" or "little blessed one."

刘易斯说:“这对他即将面对的事情来说太合适了。.

The standard treatment f或通过 is either three different surgeries at certain stages of development or a heart transplant.

因为胎儿积液引起的并发症, 班尼特Sayles was 6 days old when he underwent his first open-heart surgery. Although the procedure went well, Bennett remained in critical condition on a ventilator. 然后，当他两个月大的时候，他中风了.

By the time Bennett was 9 months old – and had undergone three open-heart surgeries – he'd stabilized enough to go home. 但在出院前不久，他心脏骤停. 他有六分钟没有心跳.

"然后, out of nowhere, his heartbeat came back and it was strong,刘易斯说.

两周后, 在他第一个圣诞节的前几天, 贝内特回到了克利夫兰的家, 田纳西州, 第一次.

2岁后，贝内特接受了第二次HLHS手术. 但没有成功. 几天后，他又做了一次心脏直视手术，这是他的第五次手术.

几周后他回家了. 仅仅几个小时后，班尼特就回到了急诊室. 他胸部出现了葡萄球菌感染.

班尼特及时回到家过圣诞节. 在经历了一系列挫折之后，情况有所改善.

现在9, Bennett beamed during a Zoom interview when his mother asked if he likes playing with his sister, 4岁的艾德琳·柯蒂斯. 他把腿拉到头上，以显示他的灵活性.

“他的心智能力在3到5岁之间, 但他的个性很好,刘易斯说. “他有一颗充满爱心的心. When he's in the room, he really does light it up and he changes the way you see things. I'm inspired every day because of how amazing he is and he doesn't let anything hold him back or stop him."

两年前, Bennett's doctors determined he would never be a candidate for the other surgeries necessary to treat HLHS. 不过，他可能有资格接受心脏移植手术.

“他能否到达那里还有待商榷, but having known Bennett for the last nine years is not surprising at all that he has progressed to this point,”医生说。. 杰拉尔德·约翰逊，男孩的儿科心脏病专家. "One of the beauties of working with kids is that they fight and they work to get better, and they work through things in ways that we as adults don't necessarily do. Bennett's been a particular fighter on that score and his mother is very proactive and in tune with his needs."

Loving Bennett教会了Lewis和她的家人活在当下.

刘易斯说:“我们不知道班尼特会遇到什么。. "He could live his whole life like this or we can have him just a few more years. 我们喜欢和他在一起的每一分钟."

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