By C.D. DESALVO
Hays Post
When Kaizer Michael Dechant was born on June 1, 2017, his parents Jason and Krista Dechant and big brother Braxton, 12, could not wait to take their healthy newborn home. Kaizer had no issues until a heart murmur was heard at his routine two-month checkup.
“We thought it was no big deal. We will just go get an echo test done on his heart to see if there is any other issues and we did that and it came back with all sorts of stuff,” said Kaizer’s father Jason. “Then we just said ‘OK, what’s the next step, what do we have to do’ because obviously it’s your child and nothing is really going to stop you from getting the care that they need.”
After several cardiologists reviewed tests to look at Kaizer’s heart, he was diagnosed with supravalvular aortic stenosis and pulmonary artery stenosis. A month later, Kaizer was diagnosed with Williams syndrome. Williams syndrome is a rare genetic condition present at birth and is caused by the spontaneous deletion of genes on the 7th chromosome. Williams syndrome affects 1 in 10,000 people worldwide with an estimated 20,000-30,000 people affected in the United States.
Children with Williams syndrome tend to be social, friendly and endearing. However, many babies have life-threatening cardiovascular problems and need costly ongoing medical care and early interventions such as speech, occupational, and physical therapy. As they grow, they struggle with things like spatial relations, numbers, and abstract reasoning, which can make daily tasks a challenge.
Although Kaizer is succeeding in many areas, his heart continues to look small and his aorta is very narrow. He is seeing a Williams syndrome pediatric cardiologist at Stanford University Children’s Hospital in California. His recent visit and testing at Stanford revealed Kaizer has severe right coronary artery stenosis in addition to his other heart defects. This puts him at a high risk for a heart attack.
His physicians are certain that he will need open heart surgery at some point in the future to patch his aorta. Unfortunately as of now, his doctors do not think there is anything they can do to fix his coronary artery, which was devastating news to the family.
Kaizer will be going to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City on February 19 for a repeat echo test of his heart. He will continue going to Stanford University for other tests and surgery when needed.
Despite the chaos and busy schedule for the Dechants, Jason said the rest of their family have been very supportive.
“Our families have been wonderful in supporting us with anything we need. If Braxton has to stay somewhere they pick it up. If Krista and I are both at work there’s always somebody to watch Kaizer for us,” said Dechant. “Our families have just been awesome.”
The Benefit Bake Sale for Kaizer will be Friday, February 9 at Golden Plains Credit Union, 2720 Broadway Avenue, Hays.
The bake sale will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Financial donations can be made to Golden Plains Credit Union in care of Kaizer Dechant.