Joey's Heart Diagram

This is a simple pencil-sketch of Joey's 3 heart defects. It is not to scale, but is simply intended to give an idea of what we're talking about with each of his surgeries and repairs.

In the upper right you will see the squiggly line that signifies the repair of his Coarctation of the Aorta. The repair was successful.  Also, along the aorta you will notice the 3 greater vessels coming off the top - the way the first two start off together actually aided the surgeon in the ease of the repair. Usually all 3 are separate, but Joey does insist on being different.

In the middle there is a dark area - that signifies his Aortic Stenosis. This has been and will continue to be Joey's ongoing problem. We continue to monitor both the pressure across that aortic valve, as well as the leakage that resulted from the balloonings.


There's a circle around what isn't there - that's where his VSD *was*. Ventricular Septal Defect, or "hole."  Joey's was particularly large, at 1.2 cm, so please keep in mind that this drawing is not to scale. The hole was much larger. The repair of this hole was done open-heart, and was completely successful also! Another big "check mark" in Joey's surgery success!