Coming up this weekend, Global BC will be telling the stories of children and their families who have been helped by BC Children’s Hospital as part of the special Miracle Weekend coverage.
Andrew Westerlund is one of them.
He was diagnosed with a heart condition a few years ago.
His mother Shannon says it was a very sudden diagnosis, and he ended up at BC Children’s.
Initially, doctors said he would need a defibrillator and pacemaker, but within a few weeks, it was decided Andrew needed a transplant.
“I remember thinking, not my Andrew,” says Shannon. “He played soccer just a few days ago, how is this possible?”
Andrew underwent a successful eight-hour operation to replace his heart.
“It was amazing how fast he recovered,” says Shannon. “They had him discharged within 15 days of the transplant.”
Andrew’s recovery was so swift, he was skiing on Grouse Mountain within just eight and a half weeks of his surgery.
“He was able to go back and do all his normal stuff, and then everything got crazy again for us,” say Shannon.
Andrew’s highly unusual story was about to get even more bizarre.
During a routine check-up, 19 months after his heart surgery, Andrew was diagnosed with a form of lymphoma that only one to two per cent of transplant patients develop.
He has been going through chemotherapy ever since.
Andrew has now been also diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder that has caused him to lose part of his hearing, and may have even caused his heart problem and cancer.
He is currently a patient of 16 different departments at B.C. Children’s.
“The hospital has given us our family. Without the hospital, Andrew would not be here,” says Shannon.
For more stories like Andrew’s, go to our Miracle Weekend page.
To donate to BC Children’s Hospital, go here.
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