S. Andreas
of The Crossroads
When the Ausmus family headed to Edmonton for Emmett’s third open heart surgery April 19, they were full of hope and powered by prayer. Little did they know how tested these tools would be.
Michelle Ausmus referred to her son Emmett as “the toughest little boy” and he’s still smiling.
Emmett, son of Doug and Michelle Ausmus, was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This is when the left side of the heart does not form correctly. The treatment includes a series of three open heart surgeries, the Norwood procedure, bi-directional Glenn shunt procedure and finally the Fontan procedure.
The Fontan procedure is what Emmett had at the Edmonton Stollery Children’s Hospital on April 19. Following the procedure Emmett was in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit for four days; this was followed by 10 days in the cardiac ward.
Emmett developed chylothorax, a fluid drainage problem, during his recovery. The doctors believed they had the fluid problem resolved and discharged Emmett on May 3.
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Unfortunately while in Saskatoon for a checkup, the fluid returned causing Emmett’s right lung to collapse making breathing difficult. He was admitted to Royal University Hospital on May 7 after an emergency ambulance ride. They placed a new drainage tube in Emmett and 1,055 ml drained from the right side of his chest.
At this point Emmett was classified as NPO (nothing by mouth) with the hopes it would help the chylothorax. During his week in Saskatoon there were some extremely tense and scary times; at one point Emmett drained too much fluid and his body could not compensate causing him to go into shock.
Emmett received a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line which became infected and heavy-hitter antibiotics were required. At this point the decision was made for Emmett to return to the Stollery and he was airlifted to Edmonton, AB.
Between May 14 and May 22, Emmett spent three days in ICU; he received another PICC line, was moved to an observation room and when he developed a cold he was placed in isolation.
During this time the family was accepted into the Ronald McDonald House.
Emmett had a cardiac catheter put in on May 31; unfortunately this resulted in cardiogenic shock and Emmett suffered a stroke.
Since April 19 Emmett has undergone two surgeries and nine tube placements. His most recent surgery, a decortication was on June 26; during this surgery they cleaned out his chest cavity through an incision made between his ribs. The chylothorax had developed numerous pockets and the drainage tubes were unable to drain them.
Emmett continues to fight and shows improvement every day. He is currently at the Stollery Children’s Hospital receiving rehabilitation; this will continue at the Glen Rose hospital in Edmonton.
Through all the ups and downs following Emmett’s initial procedure the family has held strong in their faith. Team Emmett shirts and Facebook frames share Psalm 147:3 — “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” We are all hoping healing continues for this tough little boy.
A small fundraiser was being planned but as support and a desire to help was shared by many community members, the benefit for Emmett grew into a large event. On Friday, June 22 a crowd of approximately 250 people gathered for an evening of music and dancing.
The evening’s performances were provided by The Kangaroo Rats — Cheryl Eresman, Craig Solie and Kent Glass; Prairie Pixie and Cottonwood — Crystal Tiringer, Clif Schneider, Chris Schneider, Bryan Swan, Jim Callsen, Carson Dietz and Russ Gill; Myron Wenzel with Romeo Klyne, Andrew Krein and Colton Benson; 90 Proof — Ryan Marcotte, Krein, Chris Schneider and Berk Jodoin and Cadillac Black — Klyne, Krein, Benson and Jodoin.
At the end of the evening a guitar was signed by all the musicians as a special keepsake for Emmett with a promise from Jodoin to one day teach him how to play.
There were 10 items auctioned live by Dylan Somerville with an additional 68 silent auction items. The auction items raised $26,696. Amazing!
Lacy Strutt was one of the lead organizers but we all know events like this aren’t successful without the generous participation of donors, purchasers and volunteers. The hope was to make things less stressful for the Ausmus family and I believe they did.
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