About AJ
Amber and Aaron Gale (of Keystone, IA) had a beautiful baby boy named Anderson James “AJ” Gale on 09/07/2015. Unbeknownst to them, aside from being unbearably cute, he was also born with various health conditions including hypoplastic left heart syndrome (half of a heart), pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs) and Down’s syndrome (an amazing extra 21st chromosome). He was born at St Lukes in Cedar Rapids and was transferred to the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital that same evening.
Given a 5% chance to live, AJ fought with all his might and was able to stabilize and fly across the country to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. There he had two open heart surgeries, a tracheostomy and a g-tube placement before he was one year old. After a long battle (and a lot of parent education), AJ was able transfer back to Iowa and ultimately went home for the very first time JUST before his first birthday, after 331 days!
AJ is happy to be home, but continues to need ongoing medical support. His next steps include additional surgeries -- some as "simple" as a laparoscopic urology procedure and others as complex as airway reconstruction and yet another open heart surgery remain in his future, most of his procedures will require him to return to Philadelphia.
Currently the next item on his list is a visit out to Philadelphia where he will undergo a multitude of tests to determine what his next steps are for his airway reconstruction. Due to his weak immune system, he will be making the trip by car, stopping along the way to recharge not only his batteries, but all of the machines and O2 tanks along the way. It's estimated he will need to make the trip out to Philadelphia at least two if not three times in relation to this next procedure.
Given a 5% chance to live, AJ fought with all his might and was able to stabilize and fly across the country to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. There he had two open heart surgeries, a tracheostomy and a g-tube placement before he was one year old. After a long battle (and a lot of parent education), AJ was able transfer back to Iowa and ultimately went home for the very first time JUST before his first birthday, after 331 days!
AJ is happy to be home, but continues to need ongoing medical support. His next steps include additional surgeries -- some as "simple" as a laparoscopic urology procedure and others as complex as airway reconstruction and yet another open heart surgery remain in his future, most of his procedures will require him to return to Philadelphia.
Currently the next item on his list is a visit out to Philadelphia where he will undergo a multitude of tests to determine what his next steps are for his airway reconstruction. Due to his weak immune system, he will be making the trip by car, stopping along the way to recharge not only his batteries, but all of the machines and O2 tanks along the way. It's estimated he will need to make the trip out to Philadelphia at least two if not three times in relation to this next procedure.