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Daniel and Ashley Hathaway pored over a list of cardiac surgeons at the children’s hospital closest to their home. Their unborn child had been diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, dextrocardia and heterotaxy, and now they had to choose the surgeon who would follow their child from birth through multiple operations to rebuild his heart.

“We were given a list of surgeons to pick from. We read up on them, and one stood out,” said Daniel.

“We kept thinking about who had steady hands,” added Ashley.

Bret Mettler, MD, then cardiac surgeon at their local hospital, now Le Bonheur’s chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, rose to the top. The Hathaways had no idea then that this choice would being a journey that led them straight into the heart of Le Bonheur.

Daniel and Ashley’s son, Cayden, was initially given a 5% chance of survival. His health conditions meant he would be born with half of a heart that was positioned on the wrong side of the chest and that other organs in the chest and abdomen would not be in their typical position.

After birth, Cayden was immediately taken to the children’s hospital and put on medications to keep his heart open in preparation for the first of three repair surgeries. This is when Daniel and Ashley began the years long journey with the surgeon that would rebuild their son’s heart.

“Dr. Mettler never talked above us,” said Ashley. “He was very calm and took a complex situation and made it feel like this is something he does every day. It changed the way we felt about Cayden’s condition and surgeries.”

Cayden’s first surgery was the Norwood procedure at five days old to reconstruct the aorta and pulmonary artery. He returned to the same children’s hospital for his second surgery with Mettler, the Glenn procedure to redirect blood flow from the upper body to the lungs, at six months. Both surgeries were a success, and Cayden would wait until he was older for his final heart repair surgery.

After Cayden’s second surgery, Mettler left the hospital near the Hathaway’s home to pursue new opportunities across the country. But Mettler had so greatly impacted the lives of Cayden and the Hathaway family that they decided they would travel wherever needed for Mettler to continue as their surgeon.

Fortunately, Mettler’s path ultimately led to Le Bonheur Children’s, less than 150 miles away from their home, when the time came for Cayden’s final surgery – the Fontan procedure. And while they were overjoyed to have their surgeon close to home again, they found more than just a brilliant surgeon at Le Bonheur.

“Le Bonheur was less stressful – nurses and doctors would sit and listen to how we truly felt about medications and the care Cayden was getting,” said Ashley. “The mentality seems to be, ‘You know your kid best.’”

“Le Bonheur understands the pathologies of the disease but wants to know what the parents think and what’s normal for Cayden,” added Daniel. “The majority of everybody we had at Le Bonheur went above and beyond with care.”

The Hathways were also able to stay at FedExFamilyHouse, free lodging for out-of-town families directly across from the hospital. Daniel and Ashley said that the proximity to their son and the hospitality provided meant that they didn’t have to think about anything during an extremely stressful time.

Mettler conducted the third surgery on Cayden’s heart successfully, and Daniel and Ashley could see improvement in Cayden’s health within weeks of surgery. He now only takes aspirin and amoxicillin and is back to the things he loves – pursuing his curiosity about planets and stars, going to Sunday School and playing with other kids.

Mettler is confident that this will be the final surgery that Cayden needs in his life, and he can go on to pursue the things that he loves. In the meantime, Daniel and Ashley are determined to continue educating and caring for him and teaching him how to advocate for himself and his heart.

“Looking back, I couldn’t image not having this boy full of life,” said Ashley. “He has so much purpose – he’s teaching me new things every day, teaching surgeons and doctors new avenues for care and teaching us that every day is a gift.”

The Hathaways remain grateful for the brilliant surgeon with steady hands that they chose from a list all those years ago before the birth of their child.

Cayden said it best on the gift he gave to Mettler after this final surgery: “You’re not just a surgeon, you’re my hero.”