- M
- C
- K
To my BHC Brethren,
We are once again reaching out to our community as one of our beloved team members, Giancarlo Capodanno, received some concerning news about his son during their 20 week ultrasound. The doctors determined that the baby has a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia.
A better explanation of the condition is outlined in the letter they sent to their family sharing the news below. While this will certainly be a challenging time, it is a situation that offers hope for a happy outcome and gives us another opportunity to show how we are more than just a hockey club.
Our goal is to provide funds to help offset the housing costs & medical expenses during their time at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Gio & Natalia are scheduled to move down on March 18th and their first stay is expected to be about three months. There will be a second surgery in August so that will require another two month stay down at CHOP. If there is any surplus, that money will be directed to a 529 plan for the benefit of their son.
Please reach out to Gio directly if you have any contacts or resources that can help and thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
The BHC Team
Dear family and friends,
We hope that everyone is continuing to stay positive as it looks like there may soon be some light at the end of this dark covid tunnel.
We are so appreciative of all of the well wishes you've sent since announcing that we are expecting our son in April. We are very much looking forward to writing this next chapter of our family.
We'd like to share that we received news last week at our 20 week ultrasound that our little buddy has a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia. In english, his pulmonary artery is smaller than normal or may be closed and there is a hole between his left and right ventricles.
Our doctors referred us to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who on Monday confirmed the diagnosis. We decided to use this mass communication to let everyone know at once and minimize the number of explanations.
A rough timeline of the months ahead will be a move to temporary housing in Philadelphia at ~36weeks (Early/Mid March) to deliver the baby at CHOP. Once born he will move to their children's cardiac ICU for testing and to confirm the early detection. He will have either a catheterization or open heart procedure in his first week of life which will be determined after he's born. After recovery we will come home until he is ~4-6months (Aug-Oct). At that time we will return to Philadelphia for open heart surgery to repair the hole between his ventricles.
Depending on these first two procedures and how he responds that should get us in the clear for a while. There is a chance he will need one or two more procedures between then and his early teen years to replace the artificial valve between his right ventricle and pulmonary artery since the material cannot grow with him.
On a positive note, all of this is treatable with high success rates. Below are some description links of the condition and inspiration we've found of people you may all be familiar with that suffer from the same condition, Shaun White turned out pretty badass!!
We feel at ease in the hands of CHOP, they have been amazing so far and we know they will provide world class care for our son. This holiday season we are thankful for all of you, early detection and the miracles of medicine.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, better times ahead in 2021!
With Love,
Natalia, Gio, Olivia and Bauer
How the Heart Normally Works:
https://www.chop.edu/pages/how-normal-heart-works
Tetralogy of Fallot:
https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/tetralogy-fallot
Pulmonary Atresia:
https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/pulmonary-atresia
Jimmy Kimmel Son TOFPA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmWWoMcGmo0&list=RDMmWWoMcGmo0&start_radio=1
Jimmy Kimmel Son - Post Surgery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqulWPljawo
Shaun White:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ffKBhMacLo
We are once again reaching out to our community as one of our beloved team members, Giancarlo Capodanno, received some concerning news about his son during their 20 week ultrasound. The doctors determined that the baby has a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia.
A better explanation of the condition is outlined in the letter they sent to their family sharing the news below. While this will certainly be a challenging time, it is a situation that offers hope for a happy outcome and gives us another opportunity to show how we are more than just a hockey club.
Our goal is to provide funds to help offset the housing costs & medical expenses during their time at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Gio & Natalia are scheduled to move down on March 18th and their first stay is expected to be about three months. There will be a second surgery in August so that will require another two month stay down at CHOP. If there is any surplus, that money will be directed to a 529 plan for the benefit of their son.
Please reach out to Gio directly if you have any contacts or resources that can help and thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
The BHC Team
Dear family and friends,
We hope that everyone is continuing to stay positive as it looks like there may soon be some light at the end of this dark covid tunnel.
We are so appreciative of all of the well wishes you've sent since announcing that we are expecting our son in April. We are very much looking forward to writing this next chapter of our family.
We'd like to share that we received news last week at our 20 week ultrasound that our little buddy has a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia. In english, his pulmonary artery is smaller than normal or may be closed and there is a hole between his left and right ventricles.
Our doctors referred us to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who on Monday confirmed the diagnosis. We decided to use this mass communication to let everyone know at once and minimize the number of explanations.
A rough timeline of the months ahead will be a move to temporary housing in Philadelphia at ~36weeks (Early/Mid March) to deliver the baby at CHOP. Once born he will move to their children's cardiac ICU for testing and to confirm the early detection. He will have either a catheterization or open heart procedure in his first week of life which will be determined after he's born. After recovery we will come home until he is ~4-6months (Aug-Oct). At that time we will return to Philadelphia for open heart surgery to repair the hole between his ventricles.
Depending on these first two procedures and how he responds that should get us in the clear for a while. There is a chance he will need one or two more procedures between then and his early teen years to replace the artificial valve between his right ventricle and pulmonary artery since the material cannot grow with him.
On a positive note, all of this is treatable with high success rates. Below are some description links of the condition and inspiration we've found of people you may all be familiar with that suffer from the same condition, Shaun White turned out pretty badass!!
We feel at ease in the hands of CHOP, they have been amazing so far and we know they will provide world class care for our son. This holiday season we are thankful for all of you, early detection and the miracles of medicine.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, better times ahead in 2021!
With Love,
Natalia, Gio, Olivia and Bauer
How the Heart Normally Works:
https://www.chop.edu/pages/how-normal-heart-works
Tetralogy of Fallot:
https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/tetralogy-fallot
Pulmonary Atresia:
https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/pulmonary-atresia
Jimmy Kimmel Son TOFPA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmWWoMcGmo0&list=RDMmWWoMcGmo0&start_radio=1
Jimmy Kimmel Son - Post Surgery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqulWPljawo
Shaun White:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ffKBhMacLo
Organizer and beneficiary
Giancarlo Capodanno
Beneficiary