Alberta boy thriving after undergoing heart surgery at unique, hybrid operating room in Edmonton

He’s not even two years old yet but unfortunately, a Calgary toddler is no stranger to hospital operating rooms.

While heart problems have forced Isaac Tymchuk to endure multiple surgeries at such a tender age, his Edmonton doctors held a press conference Monday to update reporters on his remarkable progress and to talk about the unique circumstances surrounding the surgeries that have given him a new lease on his still very young life.

“There was a chance he might not have even survived pregnancy,” Isaac’s mother Shandra said. “I’m grateful beyond measure.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There was a chance he might not have even survived pregnancy," Isaac's mother Shandra said. "I'm grateful beyond measure."

Almost two years ago, Isaac became the first neonatal cardiac hybrid surgery patient in western Canada, according to Alberta Health Services (AHS).

Isaac was suffering from what AHS described as aortic valve stenosis. The condition caused the left side of his heart to be smaller than it needs to be. In October 2014, the boy underwent a surgical procedure in the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute’s “new hybrid operating room.”

According to AHS, the operating room is unique because it lets interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons work in the same operating theatre at the same time with advanced imaging equipment necessary.

The procedure allowed time for Isaac’s heart to grow before surgeons performed a more complicated surgery less than six months later. That six-hour operation saw them insert a mechanical valve in his heart.

“We had to almost replace three valves in his heart and then fix his aortic arch, give him a new aortic arch and also fix the heart close to the lungs,” Dr. Mohammed Al Aklabi, a cardiac surgeon with the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, said, adding the surgery rated a “9 or 10” on a scale of difficulty from 1 to 10.

Isaac’s heart problems were apparent before he was even born and actually required a surgical procedure while he was in his mother’s womb.

A few months before the surgery at the hybrid operating room, Shandra was flown to Toronto to have Isaac’s aortic valve widened while she was carrying him.

“I diagnosed him in utero with a valve abnormality,” Dr. Deborah Fruitman, a pediatric cardiologist at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, said.

There was even a fourth procedure performed on Isaac less than two weeks before the hybrid operating room surgery and Shandra said she was incredibly grateful to the doctors who helped her son.

“This is an inspiring story for all of us,” Al Aklabi said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is an inspiring story for all of us," Al Aklabi said.

Isaac still needs daily blood testing and will require more surgery down the road to replace the mechanical valve in his heart.

-with files from Su-Ling Goh.