Mile 37

Twelve-year-old Brayden Tompson is a thriving 7th grader with a passion for history, especially World War II. He enjoys watching the History Channel and visiting the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Despite his active lifestyle, Brayden’s journey has been marked by significant medical challenges.​

At his two-week check-up, Brayden’s pediatrician detected a heart murmur and referred him to the Heart Center at Manning Family Children’s for further evaluation. He was diagnosed with bicuspid aortic valve with aortic stenosis, a congenital condition where the aortic valve has only two leaflets instead of three, restricting blood flow. At just two months old, Brayden underwent a balloon valvuloplasty to widen the valve opening—an early intervention that helped stabilize his heart.​

​For nearly a decade, Brayden’s heart was closely monitored. In 2021, Manning Family Children’s took over his care and continued routine evaluations. In late 2023, doctors identified signs of worsening heart function and determined Brayden would need a Ross procedure—a surgery that uses the patient’s own pulmonary valve to replace the diseased aortic valve, then substitutes the pulmonary valve with a donor graft. In June 2024, Dr. Timothy Pettitt successfully performed the nine-hour surgery. Though Brayden faced some challenges waking up from anesthesia, he began to recover by the third day and was discharged from the hospital after a week. ​

​Today, Brayden is doing remarkably well, continues to receive annual follow-up care, and remains full of curiosity, energy, and resilience.