Aiden Lourde Aiden Lourde HeartWarrior

Aiden has always been our heart warrior from day 1. He was born with severe aortic stenosis and had his first open heart surgery when he was only 3 days old with less than a 10% survival rate. The initial surgery was simply to buy him time but he made it all the way to 2 years old before needing another surgery!  This was a huge success!!  At 2 years old Aiden had what was then a very new and still experimental surgery with high risks but if it worked it was his best chance of fewer surgeries and limitations throughout his life. This surgery was not as successful as any of us would have liked. Aiden had to have a mechanical heart valve put in at age 5 and was prescribed to blood thinners.  This limits his extra curricular activities and extra precautions must be taken daily.  Aiden, the warrior that he is, met this challenge with his usual tenacity and has definitely not let it slow him down!  Here we are at age 12 and we are faced with another open heart surgery. This surgery will not only replace the pulmonary valve with a tissue valve but also the aortic valve with a larger mechanical valve as the current valve is too small and is leaking.  We have made the decision to take Aiden to KC Missouri the first week in July where is life long heart surgeon is now practicing. We want nothing but the best for our Heart Warrior.  We created this site to keep our family and friends informed but also to let you know how you can best help is during this challenging time. Please keep Aiden, the doctors, nurses and all of his caregivers in your prayers. We love you all and greatly appreciate your love and support as we embark on yet another surgery for our Heart Warrior, Aiden.