Written by H&S and Cheri Hain
Friday, March 1, 2013

Not just a normal checkup - Meet Finley

If you ONLY get ONE message from the stories shared from Heart and Sole, this is what WE want you to know ~ SUPPORT the place that is ALWAYS there to SUPPORT YOU!

Welcome to the world where you thought your child was healthy and just going in for his yearly checkup ~ Meet Finley!

This is what Heart and Sole means to me... shared by Finley’s mom, Cheri.

Heart and Sole means HOPE, it means LIFE!

October 2011, we took our son Finley for his 8 year old checkup. What started out as a "well" visit quickly turned into one of the scariest days of my life. Dr. Moore heard something abnormal with Finley's heart and wanted to refer us to a pediatric cardiologist. We were at CMC within a few weeks...WHAT A BLESSING! After many tests and sonograms, Finley was diagnosed with coarctation of the aorta. A piece of his aorta was constricted and was not allowing the blood to flow properly. They would have to do heart surgery to remove the constricted part and attach the aorta back together. During the next few weeks, we visited the CMC many times and each time Finley was excited to go!? Dr. Luten was amazing with his corny jokes and his "tickle torture"!
Finley had heart surgery on January 12, 2012. After surgery, he was taken to PICU and then moved to the upper floor. He was so excited to get an XBox in his room! After four days, Finley came home and returned to school within two weeks. He started playing tennis again and won his first tournament last Spring. In March, Finley RAN the Heart and Sole 5k and plans to do it again this year. Last fall, Finley was invited to Camp Strong Heart. We hadn't even made it to the car when he asked if he could go again next year. He met so many new friends, and even got to kiss a fish! This is what Heart and Sole means to him...