Baby had first operation within 48 hours, second and final at 15 days old Tommy Maxwell. Picture: Glenn Ferguson Source: Herald Sun Stuart and Carrie Maxwel with their son Tommy. TOMMY Maxwell's heart defects were so complex that without immediate medical intervention, he would not live longer than a few hours. The Victorian baby had his first open heart surgery within his first 48 hours of life. His first heart-attack came just hours later. His second and final life-saving surgery came at day 15. Tommy had aortic stenosis, an abnormal narrowing of the aortic valve, which can be fatal. The left-hand side had also failed to form properly and his heart was riddled with holes. His heart defects were detected in a 20-week scan, enabling his Jan Juc parents Carrie and Stuart to take him to Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital for surgery after birth. The Maxwells were told his heart was borderline viable, but surgeons said they could patch it up, insert a band and open the narrowed artery. "Knowing you have a baby that needs medical treatment as soon as he is born is incredibly stressful," Mrs Maxwell said. They were devastated that as first-time parents they could not pick up their newborn for four weeks. It was a roller-coaster of emotions, first we were told it was OK after the first operation and then he had a cardiac arrest. Tommy spent four weeks in intensive care before going to the ward and finally the family's local hospital. "We appreciate what a great outcome we've had thanks to the surgeons, doctors and nurses and our family," Mrs Maxwell said. The case of Tommy, now 10 months, shows how far heart surgery has improved. Almost 50 years ago a hole in the heart operation was described by this newspaper as a "medical miracle" when it documented the surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The Sunday Herald Sun recently revisited a standard hole in the heart operation at the RMH. It now takes less staff, half the time and patients no longer need blood transfusions because their blood is collected, cleaned and given back during the operation. Surgeons used to cool the heart to reduce the heartbeats, but now inject potassium solution to paralyse the cells' function. A machine takes over the heart and lung function while surgeons patch the hole, allowing the heart to beat, stronger than ever. Cardiology department director Associate Prof James Tatoulis said hundreds of these operations used to take place across Melbourne in the late '60s. RMH now does fewer than 15 a year on adults because heart problems requiring surgery are picked up in infancy.