TYSON

AGE: 10 years old

DIAGNOSIS: Hypoplastic Right Ventricle, Tricuspid Atresia, Coarctation of Aorta, Transposed Great Arteries, with VSD and ASD

DIAGNOSED: 10 days old

Tyson’s mom Melissa writes:

“Tyson was born with severe and complex congenital heart defects; his most serious ones being Tricuspid Atresia and Hypoplastic Right Heart – which essentially means he was born with half of a functioning heart. He underwent his first open-heart surgery at 13 days old, his second at 5 ½ months old, and his third just after his second birthday. He has also gone through 5 cath procedures.

Tyson has also been diagnosed with pulmonary vein stenosis, a fatal disease in the veins of his left lung. Typically, having the 3 palliative surgeries buys children with single ventricle hearts many years before eventually needing a transplant. But because of the narrow pulmonary veins, this increase in pressure is causing his blood to shunt the opposite way across his Fontan fenestration and surgeons are not able to close the fenestration. As a result, he remains on Coumadin and is heading down the transplant road faster than we originally anticipated. He’s still doing AMAZINGLY well all things considered.

During the first three years of his life he was in and out of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children so many times that I can’t even count. Once his heart condition stabilized, most of his hospital admissions were due to constant coughs and colds all winter long and a lot of pneumonia infections, resulting in IV antibiotics and oxygen therapy at the hospital.