Karen on May 1st, 2011

Broady Doland will have surgery to correct his congenital heart defect, Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (PAPVR), on May 5, at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.  Like my son, Nathan, Broady has Scimitar Syndrome.
A nice article, “Benefit Aids Vandergrift Boy’s Family,” appeared today in  the Valley News Dispatch.   Family and friends have rallied to support Broady [...]

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Karen on March 15th, 2011

In late August of 2010, I wrote a post about one-year-old Colin, son of Abby Scklarek.  Colin was born with scimitar syndrome and had heart surgery in October.  The surgery appeared to be successful, but Mom Abby reports that the scimitar vein that was re-routed is narrowing.  A heart catheterization is scheduled in April to [...]

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Karen on January 15th, 2011

A twist on Red Velvet Cake — think blue suede shoes!

2 cups sugar
1 ½ sticks of softened butter
½ cup blueberry puree*
2 eggs
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 [...]

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Karen on December 28th, 2010

This is Nathan with his new niece, Honey Jane.  He says, “Hi, baby.  This is your funky unky.” 

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Karen on November 11th, 2010

Annual checkups are an important part of maintaining Nathan’s heart and back health.  Recently, Bryan, daughter Michelle, and I traveled with Nathan to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans to see how his heart looks four years after surgery to correct Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (PAPVR), a problem associated with his scimitar syndrome.
The echocardiogram seems [...]

Continue reading about Nathan’s Checkups at Children’s Hospital