Rory has been a patient of the The Children’s Heart Unit for Wales since being diagnosed with a heart condition when aged 3. From the age of about six weeks old he had been in and out of hospital and had frequently been very poorly, requiring a lot of emergency admissions. It was only when he was aged 3 that it became evident that he had a problem with his heart.
Since then, he has been under the specialist care of Dr Dirk Wilson, Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at the Children’s Heart Unit in Wales based at UHW. He is the most caring and approachable doctor and has always been around for us as a family as well as being Rory’s doctor. It has been his job to look after Rory for the last twelve years and work with the team in Bristol whenever Rory has gone there for open heart surgery. One of the great things is that the Unit is designed so that Dr Wilson can remain as Rory’s Consultant, even when he is an adult. This is so important because it means that Dr Wilson can be a constant in his medical treatment throughout his life. In Cardiff, we have also had amazing support from Claire Logan, who is the Specialist Cardiac Liaison Nurse, who has also known Rory from the beginning. She too is great and at times they both feel part of the family! It is great to know that these people are there and that they do a fantastic job. Whenever Dr Wilson or Claire is away, we also know that there are other great people in the unit who can help and we are really grateful to them all.
Unfortunately, Rory’s surgeries cannot take place in Cardiff and he has to go to England. Luckily for us, we have had two great paediatric cardiac surgeons, initially Mr Ash Pawade and more recently Mr Serban Stoica. On both occasions there have been complications but on each occasion, the skill, care and dedication of these two surgeons and their teams has enabled my brother to come through. They have been fantastic and it is reassuring to know that when Rory needs further surgery, Mr Stoica will be there for us! Getting to know and trust your Doctors has been so important and despite how busy these people are, they have always provided us with more than just the medical care. This is now our chance to say a huge and heart-felt thank-you to both cardiac teams and units. We desperately want to raise £20 000 for the unit to buy a cardiac imaging vault (see tab on home page for more information on the vault). This vault will help the unit in their work with all their patients whether they are new patients just referred to the unit or existing patients like Rory who have significant and life-long cardiac problems. This will make a real difference and I will feel that I have gone some way towards saying thank you and showing them how my family feels about them and their work.
In addition to the cardiac teams, my brother very frequently needs to visit our GP. Again, it is amazing how lucky we have been with our GP practice. All of them, including all the doctors, the nurses and receptionists have been just great. In particular Dr Alan Lane and Dr Huw Davies. We would also like to thank Alison Price. All of you have been amazing, not just with Rory but with all of us. As a family we know that the past years would have been even more difficult without your support, expertise, availability, kindness and care. We would like to say a massive thank you.