Heartwarming

Stacy and Jason Bingham have now waited and worried through four heart transplants for three of their children, and this time the world watched with the North Powder couple as their son Gage woke up after surgery.

Well, at least those who were on Facebook at the same time Jason turned on a live video feed from Gage’s hospital room.

Gage, 8, received a new heart Wednesday morning after being on the transplant list for 512 days.

Two of his older sisters were diagnosed with the same rare heart condition and have also had transplants.

Sierra Bingham, 17, has had two heart transplants, the first in 2006 and the second in 2015.

Lindsey Bingham, 12, had her transplant in 2013.

After Gage’s surgery Wednesday morning, doctors were concerned because his kidneys were not working properly, but that situation improved Thursday, Stacy said in a telephone conversation Thursday night.

“It’s been a better afternoon than it was last night,” she said.

When a person is on heart support — Gage’s ailing heart had been supported by a mechanical pump called a ventricular assist device (VAD) since November 2015 — the kidneys suffer from reduced blood flow.

Stacy said Gage’s kidneys, before the transplant, were working at 30- to 50-percent efficiency.

His kidneys “kicked in” Thursday afternoon, and doctors removed his ventilator at 8:30 p.m.

Now the long recovery begins. When Gage feels better he’ll get to take the first snip of his dad’s hair, which has been growing since Gage went on the transplant list.

“I’m ready (for the haircut), but (Jason) wants to wait until Gage feels better,” Stacy said.

The Binghams have been through a similar recovery process three times over the past 11 years.

“It’s been the same routine with the other two (children),” Stacy said. “We kind of know what to expect.”

The Binghams have five children — from oldest to youngest, Sierra, Megan, Lindsey, Hunter and Gage.

Gage, Sierra and Lindsey have been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, which causes the heart to become enlarged to the point it can’t support the body.

Neither Megan, 15, nor Hunter, 10, has been diagnosed with the condition, although both are tested regularly.

Lindsey waited for 285 days for a heart while on mechanical support called a Berlin heart. With that device, Lindsey was required to stay at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, California, until she had a transplant.

The VAD, by contrast, allowed Gage to live outside the hospital, attend public school (with Stacy, who is a registered nurse) and even sign up to play baseball.

But he still needed a new heart.

“He’d get winded pretty fast — that reminded you he’s still in heart failure,” Stacy said.

Gage was healthy enough, though, that the Binghams were allowed to return to North Powder for spring break, which for them was supposed to be April 3-7. Gage remained in a high priority spot on the transplant list, and the Binghams had to have a plan for a quick return to California if a heart became available.

And one did, in the early morning hours Tuesday.

Gage was not excited.

Stacy said his trepidation started when he watched a documentary about the Bingham family on NBC’s “Dateline” program, and saw images of Lindsey and Sierra after their surgeries.

See more in the April 7, 2017, issue of the Baker City Herald.