A little history about myself

I was raised in the small town of Arlington, Washington with a very caring family that has always been there for me, even before I had ever been born. It was discovered at birth that there was a problem with me since I was blue due to lack of oxygen. The doctors had placed me in a incubator for 12 hours to see if that would help get oxygen into my body and also conducted a physical examination at which time they could hear that I had a hole in my heart that would not repair itself. It was at that time the doctors suggested to my parents to take me to the University of Washington.

At the age of 3 weeks I had my first doctor appointment with Dr. Herndon and his cardiac team. One week later I was having my first heart cath at the age of 1 month, and at that time I was diagnosed with Tetrology of Fallot. After my initial diagnosis the doctors at UW continued to monitor my condition on a yearly basis and also tried steroid treatments to see if that would close the hole in my heart. To no avail, that did not work. One of the main requirements for a patient to be a candidate for open heart surgery was that they had to weigh a minimum of 50 lbs. It was not until I was 3 years old that I qualified for open heart surgery.

I had the TOF repaired during my first surgery, and all had seemed going well until the age of 5 when the doctors discovered an aneurysm in my heart which required repair. The aneurysm was repaired and all seemed to go well over the next couple of years, and I seemed to be a normal little boy. At the age of 7 I had went in for a routine checkup when the doctors discovered that my pulmonary valve was leaking. Due to the amount that it was leaking the doctors were surprised to hear that I was attending school full time. It was at this time I had my first valve replacement. The valve that the doctors used was a pulmonary pig valve. The reason that pig valves where used was because the anatomy of a human heart and a pig heart are very similar, and makes valve placement easier. The life of the valve was at best 5 years before it would wear out and have to be replaced.

By the time I had turned 12 I was in need of another valve to replace the previous one that had been implanted. Its hard to do at that age since all I was use to doing was running around all day from dawn to dusk out in the woods behind my parents place. When it did come time for the surgery another pig valve was used to replace the failed one. This valve lasted until the age of 17, at which time it was replaced with a human donor aortic valve. The reason the doctors decided to use the aortic valve is because it is stronger than the pulmonary valve, and hoped that would add longevity to this valve and not have to be replaced so soon. When I asked the doctors how much longer it lasted they had stated up to 10 years longer than the pig valve. Well it was replaced when I was 17 and I still have it to this day.

Due to the time spent on ventilators I had reconstructive throat surgery at the age of 22. This was done to make it easier to breathe, but one of the results from that is I now have a voice like Sam Elliot or Wolf Man Jack. It has its benefits though.

The latest procedures that I have been through is two cardiac inversions and one cardiac ablation. These procedures were done to correct a heart arrhythmia I had. The first inversion worked for about four years, and the second only lasted 6 months. The ablation is still holding strong to this day.

I am doing this blog in hopes that it will help parents get a better understanding of what their child may be going through, and to give insight from my own experiences.

Thank you,

Luke