Member Spotlight

Jacob Montoya

Born with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, Jake turned blue almost right after he was born. We couldn’t even begin to guess what that meant. Little did we know, his world would suddenly be turned upside down. He was four days old when he got his first operation. We could see he was already a fighter and had a strong desire for life. He had a strong desire for life. His second operation was at the age of about 12 months. Something went wrong and he developed a severe leak.

Within the month he was back at Children’s Hospital for his third operation. This time the operation took its toll on Jacob’s weak, little body. He couldn’t heal as quickly as he should have. He failed the removal of his breathing tube five times. Then the doctors decided he would have to be on a ventilator until his body could get stronger. “It could take up to a year,” they said. Jacob did it in six months. He hauled his machine around the house while trying to be a toddler without a heart defect. I was always impressed with his tenacity. It made me proud to be his dad. Jake is four years old now. He just had his fourth heart operation. Two hours after closing his chest he had to go back in to the operating room. There was a leak filling his chest with blood. We were again filled with fear, but Jake persevered. The doctors said he would probably be in the hospital for two weeks. He was out in one. We have seen a beautiful side of our social fabric few people ever see. Dr. Teodori and all the staff at Phoenix Children’s Hospital seemed to know what we were feeling. They were always there to help. They even included us in Jacob’s morning critiques. Here are just a few that gave us comfort in our time of fear and need: Phoenix Children’s Hospital Nick and Kelly Heart Foundation Dr. Jeff Rockow, Mountain View Pediatrics Capstone Health Plan Hopefully Jacob won’t need another surgery. We always hope and pray for the future. As for Jacob and who he is; he has an infectious smile. His eyes sparkle with a curiosity that is rivaled only by his energy. Strangers will come up to him and introduce themselves. Somehow they must know he is miracle. When he lies with me at night I can feel his heart beat. Proud to be Jake’s dad, Al Montoya