Tyler loves soccer!

Our son Tyler was born on June 7, 2000 at Saint John's hospital in Tulsa, OK. It was a day that Sue Anne and I had anxiously awaited. Tyler was a beautiful baby with a head full of hair. A murmur was detected overnight and his pediatrician, Dr. Setter, scheduled a cardio consult for Tyler. That is when we started our emotional roller coaster ride into the world of Congenital Heart Defects. His cardiologist, Dr. Kliewer, diagnosed Tyler with Tetralogy of Fallot and warned us about what we could expect during Tyler's first year of life....blue spells, X-rays, echos, caths, and surgery.

As you can expect we were shocked and dismayed. We surfed the internet to find out all we could about his defect. It was shortly after this we discovered the wonderful people of PDHeart. We looked for any warning signs of heart failure during the first months but as time went by, Tyler never experienced any complications.

When Tyler began to crawl and pull up we began to notice his shortness of breath. Dr. Kliewer scheduled an echocardiogram. It was determined he would then need a heart catheter. His heart cath showed that his pulmonary valve had a natural banding and the possibility that it would need to be replaced. It also showed two VSD's. After we got these results we asked for references from the PDHeart family for surgeons. We decided on Dr. Hishashi Nikaidoh at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Tyler had his corrective surgery on April 5, 2001. He came through with flying colors. Now, mom and dad are the ones having shortness of breath trying to keep up with this "special" baby.

January 8, 2003 Update

Tyler is now 2 1/2 years old. He is quite an active little boy who loves to play football, basketball, hockey, soccer, golf, baseball, tennis and anything else that comes along. It looks like he is going to be a lefty (just like Dad). He is enjoying life as a 2 yr. old should. We feel really blessed to have Tyler as a part of our life.