Saxton and his mother, Amber, after being discharged from Texas Children’s Hospital, Legacy Tower in Houston, Texas, on Valentine’s Day after having his open heart surgery to repair his Primum Atrial Defect.

*On February 12, the day after his surgery, Saxton was moved out of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit.*

What do you do when you are told that your newborn son may have a heart condition? What feelings do you have as you look at your precious infant and consider surgery for him, especially when you’ve had a normal pregnancy and no family history of congenital heart defects? How do you make decisions like this, trying to trust your doctors, your heart, and God?

Saxton Bryce, weighing 6 lbs. 10 ozs., was born on May 11, 2007, to Zachary and Amber Lawrence at Wadley Regional Medical Center. “He was breech so I had a C-section,” explains Amber. After birth, Saxton was considered a “blue baby” due to low oxygen levels in his system and was given immediate oxygen. “We were initially told by the on-call pediatrician that because of his C-section birth he just needed some assistance breathing,” says Amber. While this is sometimes a normal reaction to C-section births, unfortunately this was not the case for little Saxton.

After some tests, Dr. Cindy Porter, Saxton’s pediatrician, realized there was something else going on. “The next day, Dr. Porter came into my room, rubbed my foot and said, ‘We are going to figure out what’s wrong with your baby,’” remembers Amber. “Zachary and I were heartbroken when our baby was born with issues … but Dr. Porter quickly set us up [an appointment] at Arkansas Children’s Hospital,” explains Amber.

Within days after mom and baby went home from the hospital, their little family drove to Little Rock to meet their new pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Elizabeth Frazier. After several tests, Dr. Frazier confirmed that Saxton had an Atrioventricular Canal Defect – a congenital condition caused by a hole between the heart’s chambers and problems with the valves that regulate blood flow in the heart. This particular defect causes extra blood to flow to the lungs, thus overworking the heart.

*Zach, Amber and Sawyer picked up Saxton from Camp Longhorn last July, right before they found out he needed heart surgery.*

Surgery seemed imminent, “but only until Saxton weighed 12 pounds,” states Amber. “He needed to weigh enough to handle the anesthesia.” After three months of weekly weight checks and every two weeks driving to Little Rock for continued testing, Saxton gained the necessary weight. Final tests were given and Dr. Frazier made a remarkable discovery. “Saxton had developed a flap of tissue in his heart that helped regulate blood flow. He didn’t have to have surgery then! We snatched up our baby and drove straight home!” exclaims Amber.

Of course, this didn’t mean that Saxton was completely cured or that he was done seeing doctors. He continued to have checkups, including echocardiograms and EKGs regularly. He continued to meet with Dr. Frazier at Arkansas Children’s Hospital who stated that Saxton was a very healthy child. He was an active toddler, who “went through a strong phase as a little cowboy” laughs Amber. He actively participated in T-ball, baseball, basketball, soccer, and tennis. At his checkup at age 9, Dr. Frazier was so impressed with his health that she extended his checkups to every three years.

Saxton continued to be very active in sports, participating in Pleasant Grove Middle School football and doing XLR8 workouts at The Sportsplex by HealthCARE Express. He also enjoyed riding his bike and playing tennis. He did, however, start noticing that his asthma was getting worse “and sometimes he would tell me that his heart felt funny… like fluttery,” remembers Amber.

In July of 2019, Saxton went for his 12-year-old checkup. “He was healthy; he was active. [We believed] there was nothing to worry about,” states Amber. After some testing, a student nurse noticed that Saxton’s heart rhythm wasn’t right. Dr. Frazier consulted another cardiologist and both confirmed that Saxton’s heart was going to need surgery. It wasn’t emergent, but he would need it within the coming year.

In August, after some research and discussing their options, Amber, Zachary, and Saxton all agreed that Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas, was the place they wanted Saxton to have his heart surgery. They were able to have an appointment there the following week with Dr. Dean McKenzie, Texas Children’s Pediatric Congenital Heart Surgeon. The family planned for a February 12, 2020, surgery date, hoping that the scheduling wouldn’t interfere too much with his seventh grade school year.

“I was very nervous. I was scared. I had a lot of different emotions,” says Saxton. “But the closer the surgery date got, I was less afraid. I thought about how the surgery would help [me].” After arriving in Houston and going through various tests, Saxton and his parents were informed they could move the surgery up a day to February 11. “I didn’t sleep at ALL the night before,” exclaims Saxton.

They had to be at the hospital at 7 a.m. “The wait took FOREVER,” remarks Saxton. “Especially when time is SO slow.” He was taken back to surgery at 8:30 a.m. and was in surgery for six hours. Two more hours passed in the recovery room before Amber and Zachary could see him. “It was very scary to know your child is going through [heart surgery]. I worried if his heart would know how to work once it was fixed,” states Amber. Dr. McKenzie told them afterward that Saxton’s heart had enlarged, and the hole in his heart had grown bigger. “For so long, his heart had been overcompensating. He didn’t know what normal should feel like,” says Amber.

Saxton experienced a rough first night in the hospital, including lots of vomiting from a reaction to the anesthesia. He had a short stay in the Cardiovascular ICU and only a three-day stay in the step-down unit because he recovered so quickly. Standard procedure after surgery is to stay in the area for seven days, so the family had plans to stay in Galveston. “One of the requirements for Saxton’s recovery was to walk every day,” explains Amber. “He would walk several miles a day on the beach never breaking pace…we could barely keep up with him.”

*This year, Saxton played football on the Pleasant Grove Middle School’s seventh grade team.*

“My mom was so paranoid about me,” laughs Saxton. “She was by my side all the time … and slept right by me.” Amber remarks, “I was anxious … asking him constantly if he felt okay, making lists of times he took his meds, how much he was drinking, escorting him up and down the hall … but then I would look at his rosy cheeks and be amazed at how good he looked, or turn around and [find] he had gotten in and out of bed alone.” Saxton was doing well, even telling his mom, “You fixed my heart … I’m good!” “We were relieved to see that this surgery we were so anxious about, hadn’t phased our boy at all!” explains Amber.

The Lawrence family returned to Texarkana on February 19 where Saxton was set up to do schoolwork from home for several weeks while he continued to recover. Friends, family, and neighbors gave them lots of care. His 9-year-old sister, Sawyer, made sure Saxton did what he was supposed to do and was a great little nurse, watching his every move. “There are no words to express the amount of love, support, and prayers we have received,” states Amber. “Small communities really are a blessing!”

Saxton went back to Pleasant Grove Middle School on March 9 with strict instructions not to carry his backpack. “I was most excited to get back to my friends again and eventually sports,” states Saxton. “And his friends were great about helping him carry his backpack, even to the car when I picked him up,” remembers Amber.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 had other plans for Saxton. After he was at school for just a week, Pleasant Grove School District closed their schools temporarily, and later for the rest of the school year.

While his seventh grade year of school ended up having some interference, Saxton hasn’t let his surgery or COVID-19 slow him down at all. He has spent his quarantine time playing video games, riding his bike, and playing basketball. Considering that elective surgeries were put on hold for a bit, Saxton and his family are grateful he had the surgery done when he did. According to his mom, “Saxton should be healthy for a good long while.”

*Pleasant Grove Middle School students wore red in support of Saxton on the day of his surgery, February 12.*

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