Meet Luka
Luka is a busy boy who loves being creative! He loves reading, art and trying new things! He was born with a heart condition but hasn’t let that slow him down.
Immediately after Luka and his twin brother Oliver were born, their mom noticed that Luka’s lips were blue. The doctors thought Luka may have a heart problem and rushed him by ambulance to the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
At the Stollery, Luka’s cardiologist diagnosed Luka with pulmonary atrichia, his pulmonary valve didn’t develop properly and he also had an underdeveloped right ventricle. Luka was admitted to the Stollery, where his cardiologist team kept him under a watchful eye while they decided if he would need open-heart surgery. Fortunately, Luka was doing well and his cardiologist decided that a less-invasive catheter procedure was the best option for Luka.
After a few months of recovery and observation at the Stollery, Luka could finally go home. He spent the first several months at home on oxygen, but then quickly caught up to his brother and hasn’t looked back.
Luka returns to the Stollery annually to see his cardiologist who is keeping a close eye on his heart. While he didn’t need open-heart surgery as a baby, there is a possibility that open-heart surgery is in his future. In the meantime, his parents are grateful to have the Stollery, the hub for pediatric heart surgery in Western Canada, right in their back yard.