Hudson’s Heart Journey

Hudson’s Heart Journey Hudson Hayes Wince was born on July 7, 2023. He has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS).

Hudson started Preschool yesterday. I can’t believe he’s old enough for this but he’s been waiting for the day that he c...
08/26/2026

Hudson started Preschool yesterday. I can’t believe he’s old enough for this but he’s been waiting for the day that he can join his big brothers at school! He’s had a hard time at drop off in the morning but recovers quickly and has lots of fun playing with friends! Hudson has never been to daycare or away from mom much so this is a big step for him. Praying for a healthy and safe school year!❤️🦬💙

Sorry to have left everyone hanging, I realize it’s been awhile since our last update…We officially have a 3 year old (J...
07/31/2026

Sorry to have left everyone hanging, I realize it’s been awhile since our last update…

We officially have a 3 year old (July 7)!

Over the last month Hudson has weened off of all his medications except for Asprin (which he will always have to take). He’s oxygen free! No more sternal precautions and his chest is healing beautifully! And no more low fat diet! Basically he’s back to his crazy, fearless, wild self!

This past Tuesday, we had a follow-up with Dr. Sami, and he was so impressed with Hudson’s Fontan repair and the amazing recovery he’s made. After everything Hudson has been through, hearing that was incredibly encouraging.

We can’t believe our little warrior is getting ready to start preschool this fall. He is so excited for this new adventure.

We are beyond thankful for God’s healing, the amazing medical team who has cared for Hudson, and everyone who has prayed for our sweet boy. Watching him thrive after everything he’s been through is something we’ll never take for granted. ❤️🦬💙

Update (June 22, 2026)The 20th marked 1 month since Hudson’s Fontan surgery and we have been back home for about 2.5 wee...
06/22/2026

Update (June 22, 2026)

The 20th marked 1 month since Hudson’s Fontan surgery and we have been back home for about 2.5 weeks now! We are back in the groove of baseball (Easton/Ryder), t-ball (Cohen), going to the pool (big kids), and never knowing what the next meal is going to be (parents 🤣).

We had Hudson’s follow-up appointment with our local cardiologist, Dr. Sami, in Sioux Falls on the 18th and he was very pleased with how Hudson is doing. We are able to move away from 24/7 oxygen and only have it at night. If you ever saw us out and about, you know how hard it was for us to keep up with him. When Hudson woke up this morning, Talia took off the oxygen cannula and he said, “I’m free!”

Hudson’s x-rays were great, but we are continuing with his low fat diet plan and sternal precautions (no lifting under arms, avoiding playgrounds, etc.) for a couple more weeks.

Hudson’s chest incision looks great, but his chest tube holes still need a little bit more time to fully heal before we’ll let him jump back into the swimming pool.

Overall, his appointment was filled with a lot of good news and we couldn’t be happier with how our little heart warrior is doing. Keep the prayers coming! We appreciate all of your love and support. We couldn’t do this without our herd
💙🦬❤️

Hudson is giving 👍🏼 👍🏼 for getting the green light to go HOME!! His Echo, EKG, and X-ray all looked good! He did not e...
06/02/2026

Hudson is giving 👍🏼 👍🏼 for getting the green light to go HOME!! His Echo, EKG, and X-ray all looked good! He did not enjoy getting his sutures out, but who would? He has to be on oxygen for another 4 weeks and a low fat diet of 20g per day for the next month. He also has sternal precautions for 6 more weeks so no picking him up under his arms and no playing too rough (wish us luck when he’s home with his 3 older brothers). Please continue to pray for healing and for his heart to function as they surgically designed it to 💙🦬❤️

Today is Hudson’s post-op appointment where they will do an X-ray, echo, and take out his sutures from his chest tubes. ...
06/02/2026

Today is Hudson’s post-op appointment where they will do an X-ray, echo, and take out his sutures from his chest tubes. Please pray that everything looks good and they give us the okay to head home. We are so ready!!

Update (8:14pm - 5/28/2026)Hudson has done it again!✅ Open Heart Surgery #1 (Norwood) 4 days old✅ Inpatient Recovery✅ 4...
05/29/2026

Update (8:14pm - 5/28/2026)

Hudson has done it again!

✅ Open Heart Surgery #1 (Norwood) 4 days old
✅ Inpatient Recovery
✅ 4-month stay with mommy in Denver
✅ Open Heart Surgery #2 (Glenn) 4 months old
✅ Inpatient Recovery
✅ Open Heart Surgery #3 (Fontan) 2y10m old
✅ Inpatient Recovery

Next up: Post-op appointment on Tuesday, June 2nd.

Hudson completed his inpatient recovery yesterday which was confirmed by an early morning X-ray this morning so he was discharged! We have to remain here until June 2 for his post-op appointment.

He met all the major requirements that were keeping him in the hospital, but he will continue to heal up at home. He’s on 5 different medications and is required to be on oxygen for up to 6 weeks.

We are so happy to be out of there, but he’s still not 100% his happy self. He’s emotional, gets tired easily, and doesn’t quite understand why we are limiting his activities. Day by day we are confident he will get back to the busy boy he was before this.

05/27/2026

Update (6:43pm - 5/26/26)

Another good day for Hudson and a couple positive changes!

Hudson’s chest tube output has improved to the point where the medical team decided he was ready for them to be removed! We believe this was the source of most of his pain and discomfort and definitely limited his mobility. He seems to be happier and enjoying the added freedom.

We had a new rotation of medical team members for rounds today and they were surprised at how big he is and every single doctor we’ve talked to says it’s very rare for a Fontan patient to be potty trained. They asked us if we’d prefer a bigger bed, which was funny because we were just talking about how we wish we could have a normal bed we could lay with him in.

The team would like his food intake to improve, but he’s on a low fat diet with very few options that he likes on the menu here. He’s been pretty picky as far as that goes.

Otherwise, he’s doing all the things and making improvements day by day. No word on discharge yet. We are “patiently” waiting for that day. After discharge we’ll have to stay in the area temporarily for a follow-up appointment.

Hudson has a message for his Herd…”thank you for the prayers!”

05/24/2026

💙🦬

Update (10:04pm - 5/23/26)Hudson was a momma’s boy today and got in a lot of snuggles with the best of the best. He took...
05/24/2026

Update (10:04pm - 5/23/26)

Hudson was a momma’s boy today and got in a lot of snuggles with the best of the best. He took a walk around the unit, got some fresh air on a wagon ride outside, and we were able to change some things up (after some advocating during rounds and multiple discussions with the staff) to finally get him to take his meds (which we are now calling “vitamins”) orally this evening!

He still isn’t 100% his spunky self, but for only being day three post-op we are all thrilled with the way things are going and especially the way things went today.

There’s still pain. There are still tears. But every conversation with staff really reminds us how far he has come. They don’t see Fontan kids as big as Hudson. They don’t see Fontan kids who are potty trained. He truly is a miracle and I couldn’t be prouder of him.

I don’t have an update on his chest tube output for today, so continued prayers for that to be decreasing.

Finally, thank you to Noah Clair and the Covenant Sports Group for sending us supper tonight. We appreciate you thinking of us.

Thank you all for the continued love and support.

🦬💙

Update from the past 2 days (9:51am - 5/23/26)Hudson’s over it. He took his half aspirin dissolved in water from a syrin...
05/23/2026

Update from the past 2 days (9:51am - 5/23/26)

Hudson’s over it. He took his half aspirin dissolved in water from a syringe every day at home without issue, but they gave him a different medicine in a syringe called gabapentin, which doesn’t taste good. Now he won’t take any meds orally, which is a hurdle we will have to get over before we can leave or he will continue to be in extreme pain and discomfort.

We have made some progress. We are no longer in ICU and have moved up to the Cardiac Progressive Care Unit (CPCU) for the remainder of our inpatient stay. We aren’t sure how long it will be. He still has chest tubes that are capturing the fluid around his lungs. The output from those has to decrease in order for those to be removed which would be a major step in getting him more mobile. He basically moves from the bed to the chair back to the bed (and on and on and on) when he’s restless. We went for walks down in the ICU, but it was a whole production of cords and tubes and helpers. Not easy to just get up and go.

To summarize, we are waiting for a decrease in output from the chest tubes and to regain the ability to take pain meds orally. Those seem to be the two biggest issues at this time.

Please keep Hudson in your prayers and specifically for him to overcome those two obstacles.

He wants to go home. We want to go home.

Address

Wagner, SD
57380

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Hudson’s Heart Journey posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Hudson’s Heart Journey:

Shortcuts

Share

Category