Athlete Profile — Austin Ledbetter

As told by his mother, Stephanie Ledbetter:

Austin Ledbetter is an eleven year old boy who was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. He went through various stages of heart failure from the time he was born until he was transplanted. He was transplanted at 11 weeks old (June 1997). He spent approximately 2 weeks in CICU, about 2 weeks “on the floor”, and about 2 weeks at the Townhouse. Austin spent the first 5 months of his life in the hospital. We finally got to take him home. I was scared, but extremely excited to have him home.

Austin did excellent for the first 4 1/2 years (excluding infections-viral and bacterial-which put him in the hospital). This was about the time Austin had his first minor rejection. About 3 years later, he had another rejection which had to be treated with high doses of steroid, but he didn’t have to stay in the hospital.

During this time period, Austin took gymnastics and played T-ball. He loved it. He grew older and the other boys were very serious about baseball, and he couldn’t play any more. We couldn’t take him to gymnastics any more due to rising gas prices.

The only way for Austin to participate in events and sports were the U.S. Transplant Games. The Games gave Austin an outlet to “play” and be around other people like himself.

Austin started participating in the Transplant Games in 2002. He was five years old. He won two medals that year. Austin won gold in bowling and bronze in softball throw. He also participated in the 2004 and 2006 Transplant Games. He received a bronze medal in 3-on-3 basketball in 2006.

At the end of 2005, he started having pain issues. In the beginning months of 2006, he was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis (EE). The chronic pain continued, and Austin was put on several different kinds of medicine to get rid of it. None of it worked. The EE keeps getting worse.

Since then Austin has been hospitalized numerous times and diagnosed with several conditions, such as Diabetes Type 1 (he is taking insulin shots every day), impaired kidney function, chronic fatigue, and high blood pressure.

In January 2008, we found out that his EE was worse, and he now had ulcers in his stomach. The chronic pain is very bad some days and tolerable others, but now he doesn’t go a day without pain. Some days he can’t drink water without it hurting.

Now , we are at the present. Austin now has some strange lumps/growths in strange places. He is now having low grade fevers that come and go. The pain is worse and more frequent, but he is a trooper. He has muscle cramps in his fingers, wrists, back, and legs. Austin still has the chest pain and dizzy spells. He has joint pain and swelling that comes and goes. The tiredness, fatigue, headaches, and migraines are worse, and he is now losing muscle mass in his arms and legs.

We are wanting him to go and participate at the Games because he might not be able to next time. He is excited about going, but he doesn’t know if he will feel well enough for some of his events. Being a child, he is really wanting another medal. We are excited about seeing him participate, cheering for the other athletes, and spending time with the donor families.

Good Luck, God Bless, and Blessed Be!

Stephanie (Austin’s mom)

Editor’s Note – Austin’s perserverance and attitude serve as an inspiration to all of us and a reminder of what the U.S. Transplant Games really stand for – transplant recipients are resilient, determined, and willing to push themselves to accomplish their goals.

Austin — bring home the gold!