Recycling Drive

One of our fundraisers, a recycling drive!  If you know of any other businesses or people willing to participate, please let us know.

Bailey's Condition

The sign above was one of the signs we carried during the heart walk last year, it is everything that is wrong with Bailey's heart.

This is for those who do not know about Bailey's condition, taken from an e-mail from his former Cardiologist:

Bailey is a little tough in trying to find someone with lots of experience. His diagnosis is Heterotaxy, Common Atrium, Common Atrioventricular Valve, Single Right Ventricle, D-malposition (transposition) of the Great Arteries, pulmonary and subpulmonary stenosis, and right aortic arch. This places him in a pretty rare category. There was a recent (2006) paper from Mayoo Clinic looking at their total experience from 1975 to 2004 and only came up with 142 patients with heterotaxy in that time period. Of those, only 26 had a true single ventricle like Bailey, but I can't tell if any of those were the same as Bailey. The paper was looking at long term outcome of Fontan procedures in heterotaxy patients and really came to the conclusion that there has been improvement in survival in this group of patients, but mortality and morbidity remain substantial. And " Discovery of innovative treatment methods is essential. Furthermore, meticulous long-term medical management at centers specializing in the care of congenital heart disease is mandatory."

So future research is a very important component of Bailey's future.  It is a very important component for the futures of my parents who suffer from heart disease as well.  This walk provides hope for families like ours.  That is why we continue doing the walk, year after year.

Welcome to Team Zipper Man

Hello Everyone!

Leila, my sister, had a fabulous idea and I thought I would jump on it.  BLOG IT!  Well for those who don't know me, I am Lanie and my family, friends and I have been participating in the San Diego American Heart Association's Heart Walk for over ten years now.  Why?  Well for several reasons, but one of the most important ones is for my son Bailey.  Bailey was born with a very severe and complex congenital heart defect.  His condition was not discovered until a day after his birth.  Upon discovery, we were told that we were very fortunate he survived a normal delivery, the stress of delivery, he should have been a C-Section.  To make things worst, the medical team told us that they were not sure that Bailey would make it past his first few days.  So we needed to make our calls to our families.  But this is not meant to be a sad story, but a story of inspiration.  From day one, Bailey has been defying the odds, surviving child birth, surviving 2 open heart surgeries and recovering in record time, and all the numerous procedures he has had to go through.  Now we have a smart and dedicated eleven year old son.

So after hearing a story like that, how can you not be involved in a cause that helps not only him, but other children and adults like him that are battling heart disease/defect?  I could not and that is why I continue to share his story in hopes to inspire others to band together and join this cause.  It is a fabulous day of fun and laughter with friends and families.  When you see the sea of red caps (survivors) you cannot help but feel touched and inspired. 

So please, join our team, make a donation, spread the word.  We know the economy sucks, but there are still other ways to get involved.  We started a recycling drive, we are thinking of doing raffles, lots of stuff.  So please get involved!  Let's START!

http://heartwalk.kintera.org/sandiegoca/zipperman

So the meaning behind the name?  Bailey's scar was dubbed a zipper by his Cardiologist and it stuck. Bailey loved having a zipper.  So Bailey's has always been our personal hero, hence Zipper Man.

More to follow....