Meet Gannon: An Arkansas Children’s Hospital Champion

Gannon’s prenatal diagnoses were first dTGA and VSD (single ventricle) at 25 weeks in utero. Then he received a secondary diagnosis of “short gut syndrome” from developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) at 17 days old.

“The immediate impact after Gannon’s diagnosis on our family was devastating,” says Amanda, Gannon’s mother. “We didn’t know if we would ever get to bring our baby boy home to meet his brothers and family or how his quality of life would be after birth and surgery.”

Gannon, an Arkansas Children's champion,
is participating in Family Advocacy Day 2023.

So far, Gannon has had five surgeries in total, with two of them focused on his heart. Without these, he would not have survived after birth. He has had several heart catheters to assess his heart function to assure it is performing properly and has been admitted to Arkansas Children’s nine times.

“Arkansas Children’s has saved Gannon’s life countless times and are always knowledgeable about his conditions and how to treat them,” says Amanda.

In the past two years, Gannon’s care has changed with his growth and essentially grown with him as his needs are different now than when he was born. He is being cared for with medication, echocardiograms and heart catheters until it is time for the last surgery in the series for single ventricle patients.

Gannon is stable and currently thriving. He attends the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Kid’s First for therapy twice a week and loves watching Cocomelon, playing with his brothers and being outside.