Reflecting

I have been thinking a lot lately about how grateful I am for my sweet Kyson. It's hard to believe that I held him for the first time just a little over a year ago. What a year it has been! He is doing AMAZING! I find it interesting that a person would never be able to tell he has a heart defect just by looking at him unless he has his shirt off. He is such a fun-loving kid. Everywhere we go he is smiling at people and making them fall in love with him too! Yesterday at his one year check-up he just kept smiling at his Pediatrician. It was quite funny because the second he walked in he gave him one of his huge smiles and it never went away. His doctor talked to me for quite a while and at the end he said, "You know, he has been smiling at me the whole time I have been talking to you! I wish all kids could be as happy as him!" Dr. Auxier then did his entire exam on him and still he was smiling. (Of course after his exam he got two shots and his smiles turned into tears then:)

For his birthday we played a little game to see who knew the most about Kyson. The winner (my sister, Natalie and her husband Dallas) got a CD by Paul Cardall. He is an LDS musician that is currently waiting for a heart transplant. He has over 12 CD's just filled with beautiful piano music. He has been through a lot in his life and is very inspiring! Here are the questions we asked. If you are interested in seeing how many you can get the answers are at the bottom.

1.What is Kyson’s birthday?
2.What is Kyson’s middle name?
3.What color are Kyson’s eyes?
4.How many surgeries has Kyson had? Name one of them.
5.How many times has he been discharged to go home from the hospital?
6.What is Kyson’s heart defect called? (there are a few different things you can put here)
7.Name the four chambers of the heart.
8.What does CHD stand for?
9.Name one of Kyson’s doctors. (this can be his surgeon, his cardiologist, or his pediatrician)
10.How old was Kyson when he had his first surgery?
11.What month was his second surgery?
12.Name one of Kyson’s medications.
13.What was Kyson’s first word?
14.When did Kyson start crawling?
15.What Snow White character does Kyson closely resemble?



1. March 14, 2008
2. Jordan (after his two grandfathers Joy and Gordon)
3. Blue
4. Two surgeries, the Norwood and Glenn. He will have the Fontan in the future.
5. Four; when he was born, after his first surgery, after his heart cath, and after his last surgery.
6. The best answer is Mitral Valve Atresia with Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV). You can also just say HLHS because it is a general term for any baby with an underdeveloped left side of the heart.
7. right and left atrium, left and right ventricle
8. Congenital Heart Disease
9. Dr. A is his surgeon, Dr. Alhadheri is his cardiologist, and Dr. Auxier is his Pediatrican.
10. Two months and two days old. (this is quite unheard of. Most babies won't live more than a couple weeks without surgery. Kyson lived two months without us even knowing.)
11. August
12. Aspirin, Enalopril, and Digoxin
13. MaMa
14. 11 months, Valentine's Day to be exact!
15. Dopey is what we were refering to, but I think Happy would be just as good of an answer.