Let me tell you, folks, we’ve got something incredible here. We looked into how toddlers, yes toddlers, are doing after they’ve had some really complex heart surgery. And not just any surgery, but the kind that requires cardiopulmonary bypass. We’re talking about little champions, born in Northern Alberta between 2009 and 2019, who’ve shown us what resilience looks like. And guess what? No chromosomal abnormalities in this group. They’re fighters, I tell you.

At around 21.7 months old – that’s less than 2 years, in case you’re wondering – we checked how they’re doing with their motor skills. You know, the kind of skills that let you grab things or kick a ball. We used the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III, a top-notch tool, believe me. And the scores, they’re supposed to be around 100 for composite and 10 for scaled, but our kids, they’re scoring a bit lower. It’s tough, but they’re tough too.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. When we talk about moving around, those gross motor skills, they’re not doing as well as with the fine motor skills, like picking up small objects. But, and this is a big but, we found out that what affects these gross motor skills doesn’t really impact the fine motor skills the same way. Things like needing heart medication, having a gastrostomy, or dealing with a single ventricle, they’re big deals for gross motor skills.

What does this mean? It means we’ve got to pay attention, folks. We’ve got to look at these scores separately because they tell us different stories. And by doing that, we can jump in earlier, help these kids out in a way that’s tailored just for them. It’s about making sure every kid gets to be their best, no matter what they’ve been through. And that, my friends, is how we make a difference. It’s huge, absolutely huge.