On the 24th April 2013 my little tiny newborn baby was rushed to Newcastle hospital where he was diagnosed with a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. This came as a shock to us as the condition was undiagnosed before and after birth.

Tetralogy of Fallot is a combination of four different heart problems. The four defects are: Pulmonary Stenosis (PS), Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), An overriding of the Aorta, and Right Ventricle Hypertrophy.

PULMONARY STENOSIS - When the pulmonary artery is blocked. The blockage may be the result of too much muscle below the pulmonary valve or that the valve itself is too small or unable to open all the way. The blood vessle may also be too narrow above the valve. This causes restricted, or no blood flow to the lungs, resulting in low O2 levels and causing the heart to work much harder than it should.

VENTRICULAR SEPTAL DEFECT - A hole between the two lower pumping chambers of the heart. This is the most common of all Congenital Heart Defects. In TOF the hole is very large and causes a mix of oxygen rich and oxygen poor blood, which results in low O2 levels throughout the entire body. The pressure results in an inlarged heart.

OVERRIDING AORTA - The Aorta is the largest blood vessel in the heart and is suppose to  carry oxygen rich blood from the heart to all parts of the body. When the Aorta is overriding it means that the vessel is inappropriately positioned and straddles both the right and left ventricle.

RIGHT VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY - This is the lower chamber of the heart that pumps oxygen poor or "blue" blood to the Pilmonary Arteries normally, the right ventricle muscle is thin. Hypertrophy means that the muscle wall of the chamber has become thickened. This occurs in TOF because of the extra work the muscle must do to pump the blood past the blcoked Artery

Due to these defects Jarvis had to have an emergency operation to place a stent into the blocked valve to widen it to help the blood flow. This operation was to buy him a little time so he could grow bigger and stronger before he had open heart surgery to repair the issues. Unfortunately the operation failed and Jarvis continued to turn blue, struggle to gain weight and have 'tet spells'. It was decided that Jarvis would require his operation sooner than expected which all went well.

Jarvis will require an operation every 10 years for a valve replacement but at the moment he is a picture of health and is doing amazingly well. As a thank you to the Freeman Team I am running 13 miles to raise some well deserved money for the Intensive Care Unit and Ward 23 where he was cared for.

Without the dedication of the staff an surgeons Jarvis wouldnt see his 1st birthday. I am forever grateful that they could keep my baby well and fit and keep us as a family :o)