We are confident in God's plan for out little guy and know that God has big plans. We feel that God has already worked through him and in the picture above, Ty is taking his first step in contributing to the greater good. Chris and I were both confident that if we were asked to participate in research we would. Ty will be a part of four separate research studies to hopefully help babies like him the future. Above he is undergoing his base line test for the first study that is already progressing more rapidly than expected. They are studying infant's inflammatory response and blood flow after open heart surgery. For this study they put a probe on his wrist with medication that feels a little tingly for a few moments. The probe measures blood flow and inflammation in very top layer of skin. They will do the test again after surgery and 2 or 3 different times to gather data. Ty will be asleep for the additional tests and the first one didn't seem to bother him and literally only takes a couple of minutes. Ty will also participate in an ongoing study of the use and effects of anesthesia on infants for heart surgery. This study actually uses blood samples that the lab would dispose of, but instead pass down to the research lab. So he isn't directly impacted, but they get research that may help future little ones. The last one is the most interesting and important to Chris and I. Ty's heart issues have overshadowed the fact that he has a genetic mutation of his y chromosome. Our genetic counselor only found 11 other cases of this in her research. For this reason, we have submitted Ty's DNA to be held in research lab. It will be available for years for study. The last study (so far) is a study of the correlation of body temperature and blood pressure. An infrared camera will be placed above Ty after surgery for a couple of days. They are looking to see of there is a rise or drop in body temperature prior to a change in blood pressure. He will be one of the first babies to participate in this study. All four studies, of course, are associated with a number and not his name or identity. We are very happy that he may be able to help other babies in the future by helping research! If others hadn't been studied in the past, we wouldn't be where we are getting his heart repaired. Hopefully we are paying it forward on some small scale. We believe that this is just one of the many reasons God chose this path for Ty!
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