Ryan is my oldest child. He has three brothers; Jordan (9), Blake (6), Chase (5), and one sister; Alexis (3).

This is the story of Ryan and his CHD. Ryan was born April 26, 1992 at Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler, Texas. My pregnancy with him was basically uneventful. When I went into labor with Ryan it was a textbook labor and delivery. He weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 19 and 3/4 inches long. All of the nurses commented on what long eyelashes he had and they teased me at the fact that he already needed his fingernails clipped. He was a precious baby and the pride of all of our family! The day after Ryan was born, the pediatrician came into my room and sat on the bed. He said that while listening to Ryan he noticed a murmur. He explained that many children are born with a murmur that is "innocent" and most likely it will be gone in a few days to a few weeks. I was nervous just because I had never even heard of a murmur and this was my first child and I wanted all to be okay with him. The pediatrician assured me that he would be fine and that everything was okay for us to be released the next day. This put me at ease and I just thought that it must be nothing to worry about.

When I took Ryan home, things were a bit stressfull. He had trouble taking a bottle. It seemed that he would drink about 1 to 1 1/2 oz and fall asleep. Just minutes later, he would wake up screaming because he was starving. He just didn't have the energy to get the amount of formula that he needed. Being a new mom and never really having been around newborns before, I didn't think that his behavior was abnormal. I just thought he was a "fussy" baby. One day when he was about 4 days old, my Mother-in-law was visiting. She was watching Ryan as he slept and noticed that he was breathing very fast. She asked me if I thought this was normal. I told her that he breathes like that all of the time and it did seem too fast but the Dr's said he was fine. Having someone else notice this, prompted me to realize that maybe this was not normal. I called his pediatrician and they wanted to see Ryan right away. We went to his office and they determined that Ryan still had the murmur and to be safe, the Dr. referred us to a pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Penn Laird in Dallas, Texas. We left the next day to take Ryan to this specialist.

Ryan was seen by the cardiologist in Dallas and it was confirmed by EKG and Echocardiogram that Ryan had a Congenital Heart Defect. He was born with an Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) and a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). His heart was being overworked at the time. This was the reason he was tiring out while taking his formula and also the reason his respirations were double what they should have been. I am so thankful that I called his pediatrician.... Ryan would have been in heart failure, had I not.

The cardiologist put Ryan on Lanoxin for one year and this helped his heart to function more effecient. Surgery was not discussed at this time, because the cardiologist thought that the defects might correct themselves.

Ryan is 10 years old now and a very active 10 year old at that. He has been through a lot in the past 10 years. He has never had surgery but has been very sick with high fevers, vomiting that would last at least seven days.... the cause of these ailments were always thought to be heart related so in the hospital he would go. He spent many weeks in the hospital from the time of birth to 5 years old. He has had several spinal taps and other testing done but the cause of these ailments were never known. Somehow, he outgrew whatever was causing him to be ill and has been basically healthy ever since. A couple of years ago, at his yearly cardiologist checkup, they noticed that his aortic valve was being "sucked" through the VSD (the ASD is now so small that it is classified as a patent foramen ovale). This valve was incompetent and was having some regurgitation. A heart catheterization was performed and surgery was discussed but because of differing opinions between the surgeon and doctor, it was delayed. Last year, Ryan's cardiologist confirmed that it looked like his VSD was indeed getting smaller (it is now 3-4 mm compared to 5-6 mm) and that the valve was no longer being involved. His pulmonary arteries are a little enlarged however, because of the increased blood flow all of these years. Some Dr's say that Ryan should have had surgery when he was an infant. I wish I would have known then what I do now! All in all the news at his last checkup was excellent news and it looks like there will be no surgery in Ryan's future. Ryan is a pitcher (pitches 57 MPH) for his local little league team and is an awesome kid!

Ryan has lived a tough road, but as many CHD children, he is strong and a survivor..... I urge any parent that has a child with CHD to research and know all about their child's specific defect. Also ask questions and prompt doctors if you feel things are just not right with your child... be your child's advocate.

Copyright (c) Shannon K-2002

Hearts Of Hope United~
Feature Children
& Their Guest Book