Thank you for visiting my fundraising page! I am participating in the Congenital Heart Walk to support the mission of The Children's Heart Foundation: to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of congenital heart defects by funding the most promising research.

I hope you'll join me by supporting my fundraising efforts as I work to raise funds for life-saving research.

 This will be my third heart walk for Owen’s Tribe, honoring our heart warrior, Owen  

Owen’s heart journey began before he was even born. At 20 weeks gestation it was suspected Owen had truncus arteriosus. This congenital heart defect is when the pulmonary artery and aorta form as one. At one week old, Owen underwent open heart surgery to place a conduit where he should have a pulmonary artery. At five months old he had a heart catheterization to place a stent in the conduit because it was shrinking, causing increased pressure in his heart. The valve in the conduit at this time was pushed open by the placement of the stent, but it needed to be done to avoid open heart surgery. At fifteen months old, he had another heart catheterization in which ballooning his pulmonary arteries was successful, reducing the pressure in Owen's heart. 

Owen had a cardiac MRI in March. It will now be time for Owen to have another open heart surgery to replace the conduit as there is no other way to replace the conduit through catheterization. His surgery is currently scheduled for June 29th. Owen will continue to require replacements of the conduit until further research is successful in finding a conduit that can grow with the child. 

We feel VERY fortunate that Owen has not had open heart surgery for five years. He has benefited from the past decade of research and interventions completed through fundraisers like this. We can only hope that there will continue to be funds to assist with the ongoing research and improvement in treatment options to reduce risks and burdens placed on children and their families, including ours.