When Ryan was 1 week old, his pediatrician noticed he had a heart murmur. The family was referred to the Heart Institute at Children’s Hospital Colorado, where he was quickly diagnosed with multiple cardiac issues. Doctors told his parents he’d need open heart surgery to repair a rare heart defect called an aortopulmonary window (APW). An APW is a hole in the connection between the aortic valve, a major artery that takes blood from the heart to the body, and the pulmonary valve, which takes blood from the heart to the lungs. This hole results in too much blood flowing to the lungs and causes high blood pressure in the lungs (also known as pulmonary hypertension), along with congestive heart failure.

Though surgery was inevitable, Ryan’s care team wanted to see if Ryan could grow and get a little bigger before undergoing a major surgery.  For six weeks he thrived and was eating but wasn’t gaining any weight. During surgery, doctors discovered that Ryan had many additional heart problems, including that his pulmonary valve had grown on top of his aortic valve. Despite the added complications, Ryan survived and thrived. When he was 8 years old, doctors replaced his pulmonary valve, and eight years later, when he was 16, Ryan had a third open heart surgery to replace his valve once again. Today, Ryan enjoys spending time with his little sister and watching the Broncos, Nuggets, Avalanche, and Rockies.