Heart Conditions
Today – March 6 – is a special day for us. It is our son Ryan’s birthday (see Part 1 of our story here). We’re excited to share the final part of this story today because it turns out this › Continue Reading
Heart to Heart: Ryan Meets Kirk Urso – Part 2
When our son Ryan was born with a congenital heart defect (CHD), the world as our family knew it was turned upside down. If you didn’t read that part of our story yesterday, please go read it here and then › Continue Reading
Our son Ryan has always been a heart warrior – that’s part of the deal when you’re diagnosed with a congenital heart defect (CHD) as a baby. But he and our family didn’t truly become heart advocates until a fateful visit › Continue Reading
One of the most common threads we hear from parents is the challenge of understanding and describing your child’s congenital heart disease to friends and family. That’s why we developed nine congenital heart disease animations for families to view and share. But › Continue Reading
Building Blocks of Recovery
Lego fanatic! So many kids are these days, but my son James epitomizes the title. My daughter loves them, too, but he eats, sleeps, and breathes Legos. So of course “Art of the Brick” at Cincinnati Museum Center was top › Continue Reading
Sudden Cardiac Arrest and Your Teen Athlete
Stories of teen athletes suddenly collapsing on the sidelines after exerting physical effort make the news quite a lot. Fortunately, these types of cardiac events don’t happen as often as it may seem. But they do happen. And in fact, › Continue Reading
Adjusting to Life After A Heart Transplant
Adjusting to life after your child has a heart transplant is not easy. It’s a huge change for the entire family, to say the least, and the number of follow-up tests, clinic visits and limitations can be overwhelming. It can › Continue Reading
Genetic testing can be a powerful tool in the management of cardiomyopathy. Familial cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle that is passed down through a family’s genes. It is a very serious disease that can lead to heart failure and › Continue Reading
This summer Asia went through driver’s ed class. One day the students watched a video on organ donation. I had spoken with the instructor earlier in the week about Asia’s heart transplant because she had been at a doctor’s appointment. › Continue Reading
Our journey with Alexander began when my wife, Erin, was 28 weeks into pregnancy. After three consecutive mornings of prenatal imaging, we learned that our son’s heart was in a problem zone. The first appointment was a routine ultrasound at › Continue Reading
The Day Doctors Removed My Son’s PICC Line
My son, James Dickson, was born with tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart condition comprised of four heart defects which cause oxygen-poor blood to flow from the heart to the rest of the body. He was only eight months old when › Continue Reading
Liam was a smart, funny and outgoing three-year-old boy. He walked and talked early and was advanced for his age. He loved dinosaurs and could even tell you which ones ate meat and which one could fly. On June 4, › Continue Reading
When you receive the news that your child has congenital heart disease (CHD), it can be an overwhelming and stressful time. The majority of parents learn about the diagnosis while the mother is still pregnant, and typically when I see › Continue Reading
Last Summer I had the honor of being an older camper and camp counselor at Camp Joyful Hearts, a residential summer camp for kids and teens that have heart disease. It’s such an amazing camp and experience for these kids › Continue Reading
The next big thing in imaging was recently used to help prepare our team for a rare and complex heart procedure. Over the last year, Cincinnati Children’s Heart Institute has been creating patient-specific 3-dimensional (3D) complex congenital heart disease models › Continue Reading
The Heart Has A Hard Job to Do
A couple of weekends ago, our family attended the 3rd annual Heart Institute Family Education Day at Cincinnati Children’s. We heard amazing speakers as we focused on the long term outcomes of children born with congenital heart defects (CHD). Our keynote › Continue Reading
Growing Up in Heartland
You have probably never heard my son’s name, Max Page, but you might recognize him. He was the mini Darth Vader in the 2011 Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial. Soon after it was aired the commercial went viral and the media › Continue Reading
I see this scenario quite frequently in cardiology clinic. Generally speaking, about a quarter of my new patient visits complain of the following set of symptoms at their appointment: chest pain lasting for several months, maybe 2-4 times a week, for less › Continue Reading
High cholesterol isn’t a problem limited to adulthood. In fact, it’s becoming more common in children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that among youths aged 12-19 years, 14% of kids who are normal weight and 43% of › Continue Reading
If you’re a parent of a child with a congenital heart defect (CHD), explaining your child’s condition to your friends and family members can be challenging. That’s why our Heart Institute created nine animated videos to help illustrate the defects. › Continue Reading
Like many of you, I’m looking forward to watching the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. I am particularly excited to watch Shaun White compete against the world’s other elite snowboarders in the halfpipe competition next week. Although it is › Continue Reading
Seacrest Studios Performance Was My Victory Lap
How My Cardiomyopathy Diagnosis Led Me to Music After receiving a diagnosis of restrictive cardiomyopathy in 2010, I had to stop playing sports all together. At 17-years-old, this was a pretty big lifestyle change for me, and I needed an › Continue Reading
When you hear of someone celebrating a milestone, weddings, anniversaries and graduations probably come to mind. Today we celebrate a different kind of milestone: one year living with a Total Artificial Heart. One year ago today, Tiernee Gonzalez (pictured above, › Continue Reading
My Son’s Heart Was A ‘Ticking Time Bomb’
My son, Jordan (pictured top left), is a typical teenager: he has a messy room, forgets to take out the trash and acts silly. But he is also very loving, honest, and extremely athletic. At four, Jordan started playing basketball › Continue Reading
