Colin Bryan

Our Little Angel from the beginning, he was a unexpected but very welcome surprise. Colin was our second son, our other son was 14 months old when Colin was born.

Colin was taken to the ER at 10 days old, with what we thought was an allergic reaction to something because he was having problems breathing. He had slowed down eating, and was worrying us with that for at least 2 days. But because it was over a weekend, I thought we would wait till Monday to call the pediatrician. Colin was ripped from my arms upon arrival to the ER.

Colin was flown to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, for further treatment. They discovered that Colin had many defects to the heart. It was a CHD, but with many complications. Almost undiagnosed. Colin was found to have abnormal valves through his entire heart. He had aortic stenosis, unicuspid valve, defect to the left ventricle (did not pump normally) and a few other "minor" problems. This caused the doctors to scratch their heads with questions.

After going through all possibilities, they decided to treat him for HLHS to see if this surgery would work for Colin. It was either this or wait for a heart transplant. After 6 weeks in CHOP, Colin was released, and taken home as a happy baby boy. We had weekly checkups at CHOP (thank gosh we lived close to CHOP) and all was normal.

Colin went in for a heart cath on 10-20-04 and never came out okay. During the cath, there was a puncture made to the artery in his leg. They found a clot in his heart during the cath, so it was treated and he was started on blood thinners after surgery. This added to his problems. Colin passed out in my arms, hours later, and never came back.

Colin had 3 surgeries in the next 48 hrs, and then they sat us down to tell us he was bleeding beyond control. The bleeding slowed, but there is no hope for Colin's organs. They all took a serious hit...like a car accident. The only organ in Colin's body that did not seem to be affected was his heart.

We held Colin on 10-22-04 in our arms, as they took him off life support. This was the hardest and most loving decision me and my husband had ever made.

We loved our little Colin from the second he was born, and he showed all of us, how important life is.

Colin, you taught us more in 3 months, than we could have ever taught you in a lifetime. We love you little man.