Dr. Del Nido

I want to take a moment to let everyone know how unbelievable I think Ryker's Cardiac Surgeon is-
Dr. Pedro Del Nido

With being here in the Children's Hospital Boston & with being part of a few groups for families with Hetertaxy children, we had heard so often that Dr. Del Nido was literally a lifesaver & a miracle worker! But I had no idea until we have now found out first hand.

Like I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts- A family member of ours has a neighbor that has been here to Boston to have his child have surgery done by Dr. Del Nido. He was shocked when he had found out that our baby had Dr. Del Nido as his surgeon because he has a never ending waiting list & that children have died waiting to get an operation from him. Dr. Del Nido has taken on Heterotaxy cases that others Doctors around the world have told the parents are a lost cause. And the best part about that is not only does he do the surgery that no other Doctor would preform but he succeeded at it!

The night before Ryker's surgery we finally got to meet The Famous Dr. Del Nido! When he walked into Ryker's room he almost had a "heavenly" presence about him. Very soft loving voice & he made sure he covered every base to make sure all our questions & concerns were addressed. At the end of this conversation he said "Do you have any other questions I might answer for you?" & I said with tears running down my cheeks- "please take care of our baby!" & he said "I will, I promise!" And I knew he meant those words! I will never forget it in my life!

One of the mornings soon after Ryker's surgery Dr. Del Nido came into Ryker's room and looked at me with a disappointed look on his face. He said "Mom, Please tell me you have moved from that spot since I saw you there last night!" I told him I had slept for a few hours. Then he lectured about how I needed to take care of myself better. Later that night I had not been there when Dr. Del Nido had checked in on Ryker, I was so upset that I had missed him while I was out pumping. The nurse told me Dr. Del Nido was actually really happy to not see me there, he told her that she needed to make sure that I don't stay here too much & that I was getting some sleep & taking care of myself. This goes to show what a caring, AMAZING man he is!! Not only does he check in on my baby constantly & care SO MUCH about him, but he cares about me too.

When Ryker's PDA vessel was open & they hadn't known yet what going on, Dr. Del Nido was in Ryker's room frequently looking over him & his numbers trying to figure out what was going on. There were 3 different times during that night he called while I was in Ryker's room to ask Ryker's nurse how he was doing & telling her to alter different things. These phone calls were between midnight & 3 am. I realized then that he wasn't going to sleep until he found out what was going on with my sweet baby! He didn't just preform the surgery & then pass him along to the CICU staff. He really cares that my baby not only made it through surgery but that he goes home with us healthy & happy! He cares more than any other surgeon I have ever met.

Jason says that he is going to tell Dr. Del Nido that he needs him around as much as Ryker does for his own sanity reasons (so I'm not a total basket case), because no matter how stressed I am about something that is going on with Ryker or the other Doctors, Dr. Del Nido can walk in and calm my fears by explaining everything in a way I understand & show me what is best for our baby & why.

I am forever grateful for this man for not only taking my baby's case & moving around his schedule to do so, but that he succeeded at it & my baby boy is alive today because of him!

We are doing a Thank you Dr. Del Nido on my Miracle Ryker site. Here is the info-

Can you believe on April 21st it will be the one month anniversary of Ryker's first surgery?
As you may know Ryker has one of the best surgeon's in the world Dr. Pedro del Nido. We are so blessed to have him as Miracle Ryker's Doctor. We cannot thank him enough for taking such good care of our baby BUT we do want him to know we all care about Ryker and in a small way shout our thanks.

We are asking RYKER FANS to send a thank you card to Dr. Pedro del Nido and include a snap shot of your family. Please write we are Ryker fans on your card and mail it by April 16th to ensure it will be delivered around April 21st (the one month anniversary of Ryker's first surgery).

Please address to:
Dr. Pedro del Nido
c/o Children's Hospital Boston
300 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115

Thank you for your support and for being a RYKER FAN.


Also-
Here is a tribute another Dr. Del Nido fan did that I have to share-

http://youtu.be/OSRT2LEeFwA