Viral TikToker Elyse Myers Shares Positive Update After Son's Surgery
By Melanie VanDerveer on February 23, 2024 at 7:00 PM EST
Viral TikTok creator Elyse Myers shared an update on social media on her 5-month-old son Oliver after his heart surgery.
A few weeks ago, the super relatable content creator shared the news that her son would need surgery and explained in detail what was going on.
Elyse Myers Shared An Update On Oliver After His Heart Surgery
Elyse shared a quick update on Oliver after his surgery along with a photo of his hospital room on Friday on both Instagram and TikTok.
"Oliver’s surgery went incredibly well and his heart is getting stronger with each hour that passes! His body is slowly learning how to get used to working differently than it had before, and it’ll take some time for him to get used to this new heart & lung function but everyone is really encouraged by his progress," she wrote in her Instagram caption.
"I’ve had more coffee than sleep, everyone is so kind, and we’re taking it one hour at a time. ❤️🩹"
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Many of Elyse 3.7 million Instagram followers left positive and supportive comments on the post.
"Sending love and healing to Oliver and the whole family! 💙," one person wrote. Another added, "It’s a different kind of tired being a medical mama, He is a rockstar and so are his parents!"
And while many were focused on Oliver's recovery, others reminded Elyse that she has to take care of herself, too.
"From another mom of a kid with a congenital heart defect, please don’t forget to eat while Oliver is recovering. The hospital draws all your focus to him which is appropriate, but I recall the coffee jitters from those days because I wouldn’t want to take any time away from my kid. Candy bars are fine. Don’t forget to take care of you, Elise. You matter too!" one follower wrote.
Another follower added, "Amazing news!!!!!! Try and take a walk outside if you can. That saved my mental health when my son had open heart surgery in June. Just a little bit of sunshine. ❤️🩹"
Elyse Myers Revealed Oliver's Need For Surgery A Few Weeks Ago
In a video shared on Instagram and TikTok on January 30, Elyse revealed that Oliver needed to have heart surgery for ventricular septal defect, VSD.
"So about a week ago, my son went into his four-month checkup, just a routine newborn checkup, and the doctor heard a little bit of a heart murmur and said you know it's probably nothing. We'll just send you to cardiology so that he can get a little echocardiogram and confirm that it's just an innocent murmur and he'll grow out of it," she said.
"So that was on a Friday, and then on Monday, we were getting our echo and the tech found a very large hole in my son's heart between the bottom two chambers of his heart. It just doesn't close and he was born with VSD and we didn't know that. We never caught it."
The next day, doctors called Elyse and her husband Jonas, and told them to bring Oliver in so they can give him a heart catheter to further assess what was going on, because the echo can only show so much. The catheter was also to "test the environment" to help make the decision on whether or not surgery will be done.
"And so Oliver's gonna have heart surgery within the next couple of weeks and the doctors are really confident that after the surgery, he will recover and grow right on track and they seem to think that this will not affect him in life later after this is all fixed up," she continued. "We found the hole one day, getting the heart cath the next, scheduling surgery the next."
She said that once her and Jonas got "through all the information and got a good grasp on what's going on" it was time to share this information with her followers.
"It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay," she concluded her video while fighting tears. "He's gonna be good. And he's gonna be good, we're gonna be good."
Her video received more than 8.7 million views on TikTok, where Elyse turned comments off. On Instagram, her video got nearly 1 million likes and 50,000 comments.
Jonas left a comment for his wife, saying, "Oliver is brave like his mommy. ❤️🩹🐻 praying and believing that he will be strong and healthy through this. Love you best friend."
A follower who had VSD as an infant also dropped into the comments to leave her positive story. "Praying for you all & your team! I had open heart surgery & a VSD repair as an infant! Currently 36 & have had no side effects or issues throughout my life! I’m sure this is so scary to go through as a mom, so I just wanted to encourage your heart from the other side!! You’ve got this!" she wrote.
Elyse and Jonas are also parents to son August, 3.
Get well soon, Oliver, and hang in there Elyse and Jonas!