Liam

We close CHD Awareness Week on a day where the heart symbol is the most prominent…February 14.

 CHD (Congenital Heart Defect) refers to defects in the structure of the heart and great vessels that are present at birth.

This is the most common form of birth defect affecting 9 out of 1000 children every year. Please refer to my blog from last year here for more details. 

 I wanted to highlight the cutest little heart warrior who at 17 months had his open heart 3 months after he was born.

Liam was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot which is a combination of 4 defects that affect normal blood flow throughout the heart. 

It was diagnosed 1 week before he was born, during an ultrasound for an unrelated issue. You can imagine what that last week of pregnancy would have been like for Liam’s parents, knowing their son would be born with a serious heart abnormality.

Liam’s mom writes: “Liam had his open heart surgery at 3 months. Recovery took a bit longer than expected but was fairly typical and we made it home 2 days before Christmas!” 

Going forward, Liam will continue to have regular cardio follow-ups.”

They repaired his broken heart, but it will never be fixed.. They were unable to save his pulmonary valve during surgery, so it’s a little leaky. He’ll need a new one eventually, but hopefully it won’t be for many, many years!”

Today Liam is a very energetic little guy who didn’t stop running the entire photo session!  

You can read about more amazing heart warriors here.