Nicholas

When Nicholas was 4-1/2 years old, we took him to the ER one night for a severe stomach ache. The stomach problem ended up being minor but the ER doctor asked if any one had ever talked to us about Nick's heart murmur. Our pediatrician hadn't mentioned one to us and since Nicholas was often sick and at the doctor's office, we thought that Nick's doctor must have thought it wasn't a problem.

Two weeks later, Nicholas was ill again and had to go to the pediatrician's. We told the doctor about the ER visit. He listened to Nicholas' heart and then scheduled an echo at our local hospital. Less than 2 months later, Nicholas had open heart surgery at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston to repair a cleft in his mitral valve and a hole in the atrial septum.

Nicholas recovered very quickly from his surgery. He has a continuing problem with mitral valve regurgitation and takes enalapril to prolong the time before he might need another repair or replacement of the mitral valve. However, Nicholas is doing very well and plays soccer and baseball.