Karen on September 15th, 2009

Back in April, I attached this photo to a post I wrote about Dr. Edward Bove (the surgeon who performed our Nathan’s surgery in 2006).  I learned from Phil Eppard, that the little fella’ pictured with Dr.  Bove is Phil’s son, Aidan.  The photo was taken in 2005 after Aidan’s first heart surgery and has [...]

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Karen on June 23rd, 2009

Last week, I posted “99 Balloons,” the touching video story of the life of Eliot Mooney. While visiting his parent’s website (Matt and Ginny Mooney), I noticed a poem by Martha Teal entitled “For Nathan.”  Having a Nathan* of my own, I was intrigued enough to read it.  I’m so glad I did…it was [...]

Continue reading about Martha and Marcia: Two Friends, Two Babies

Karen on May 26th, 2009

This is one of the best illustrations I have found for explaining PAPVR.
Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (PAPVR) is a rare congenital heart defect in which blood flow from one or more of the pulmonary veins return to the right atrium instead of to the left atrium.  This is a problem because the right atrium [...]

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Karen on April 27th, 2009

When faced with a complicated congenital heart defect, confidence in the skill and expertise of your child’s surgeon is of paramount importance.  When our son, Nathan, was diagnosed with Scimitar Syndrome, a rare condition characterized by dextrocardia, pulmonary hypoplasia, and Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return, we soon learned that our local surgeons had no personal [...]

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Karen on March 19th, 2009

Dr. Edward Bove was scheduled to perform Nathan’s surgery to correct Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return. I penned a simple child’s prayer–Nathan memorized it and repeated it to anyone who would lend an ear.

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