Louder than a murmur

Hayden Tiu was born in January. Soon after, he was found to have a hole in his heart and suffer from tetralogy. Now he is facing open-heart surgery in June.

By Dana Cole
Herald/Review
Published/Last Modified on Sunday, Apr 19, 2009 - 02:16:10 am MST

SIERRA VISTA — Not long after Hayden Tiu came into this world, a nurse detected a heart murmur.

“The nurse discovered it first, when he was about 2 hours old,” said Hayden’s mother, Marion Tiu. “And then his pediatrician heard the murmur when he was about 24 hours old. We were told it was nothing to worry about, that a lot of babies are born with murmurs and they go away.”

But five days later, during a recheck appointment, Hayden’s pediatrician was concerned when he listened to the infant’s heart. The murmur had not resolved. If anything, it was even more pronounced.

“He told us that we needed to see a cardiologist right away,” Marion said.
Fortunately, a cardiologist who was working for the University Physicians office in Sierra Vista happened to be in town that day with an open appointment. Upon seeing Hayden, the cardiologist, Dr. Daniela Lax, conducted a cardiogram and diagnosed a heart defect called tetralogy of Fallot.

“We had a diagnosis within 30 minutes,” said Marion, who was accompanied by Hayden’s father, Richard Tiu, during the appointment.

The Congenital Heart Futures Act was introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday March 17^th.

This bill calls for increased funding for research, a national registry, and funding for a national awareness and public education campaign.  To learn more about this bill, click here.

Please email your Senators and Congressman today to ask them to become a co-sponsor of this legislation, which is bill S. 621 in the Senate and H.R. 1570 in the House.  It just takes a minute  Go to http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov/ to look up your representatives and their email addresses.

Published: 06.22.2008

Mending hearts and helping families

Tucson mom founds support group chapter

By Patty Machelor

ARIZONA DAILY STAR

The kindness of strangers is often what helped get these Tucson parents through the shock and pain that can come in profusion when a baby has a heart defect.

Christina Tonelli received text messages from people she'd never met as she waited out her daughter's surgeries. Some had heard of Sofia's plight through a friend, and wanted Tonelli to know her family was in their prayers.

Others — like Vanessa West — found some comfort in computer chat rooms, where mothers and fathers she'd never met gave her courage by sharing their own struggles.

West's story started unfolding more than two years ago when she learned the 17-week-old girl she was carrying had a malformed heart.

After her daughter's birth, West learned that Arianna, now 18 months old, has multiple heart defects due to a congenital condition called DiGeorge syndrome.

West, 23, longed for more interaction with local families, people she could meet and befriend.

"I started looking for support, but there was nothing for families like us," she said.

To read the entire article, click here.