2023 in a Nutshell

I can't believe I didn't do an update yet for 2023. Tyson had a really good year! We were able to enjoy a family vacation to Cuba in March and Tyson had an absolute blast. There were no issues getting health insurance for him, he did very well on the flights there and back and had no issues with his oxygen saturations. Every time we are in the sunshine, it is clear that summer and sunshine are his healthiest seasons by far. Here are a few highlights from our trip.

Tyson is in the light green palm tree bathing suit. 

Tyson won this flamingo on his first day. He named him Edwardo and took it with him everywhere.

In the spring we listed our house for sale and in September we moved out of the only home Tyson knew since he was a baby (he was actually born in that house.) We made the difficult decision to move out of our home of 16 years so that we could be closer to our church and school community. We rented a house for 8 months while we build our dream home on a piece of land that we bought just outside of Orangeville.  Tyson and some of his siblings were very apprehensive about the move, but now that we're living closer to their school and friends, they are starting to see the benefit of the move. 

Tyson has volunteered for Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen in support of SickKids every year since he was 6. After Miracle Treat Day 2023, the manager there offered him a job, so now he works there part-time after school and weekends. He usually works one weeknight shift and one weekend shift. 

Tyson is now in Grade 10 and is doing well in his studies, enjoys school, and has a great group of friends. He also made the junior boys volleyball team this year. He's one of the team's two setters and is also quite good at serving. He has always really enjoyed sports so it's nice to see him make it on the team.

Tyson's cardiologist appointment in November went well. He had a stress test which involved him cycling on a bicycle to stress out his heart. He has mildly reduced exercise capacity compared to his last test in 2020, but that is not really a surprise. His endurance is still fairly good for a single ventricle heart. Overall, Tyson is doing very well and there are no clinical concerns.  So far all of his cardiac and non-cardiac testing is within acceptable limits for a Fontan circulation. 

This September Tyson is entering Grade 11 and will be turning 16 in November, Lord willing. A lot of the courses he's taking this year are already streamlined, but in Math and English he is sticking to the college stream because that's where he's most comfortable. We are starting to have conversations about what he career he'd like for his future. His older brothers have done apprenticeships in the General Carpentry industry, and so far it looks like that will be the direction Tyson will be heading as well. His brothers have had some conversations about if/how that line of work would affect his heart considering his endurance isn't the same as others his age. Working in extreme weather conditions are also very hard on the body, so we are trying to help him stay open-minded about something in the design or architectural end of the carpentry industry. We will see where God leads him. 

Tyson will have cardiac testing and appointments with cardiology again in November. It will be time for the 24 hour holter monitor and blood pressure monitoring, so that should be fun. He's older now and most of his friends are aware of his condition, so I'm hoping he won't be as self-conscious about the monitors as he was two years ago when he was in Grade 9. We pray for another year of good results and another 'all clear' for the year, especially as his care starts the process of transition from SickKids to Toronto General in the next couple of years. It's hard to believe we are closing in on the end of our care at SickKids. 

That's it for now. I will do another update after his cardiology appointments in November 2024.