“Bill had heart surgery when he was baby but I knew he still had problems,” says Shelby. “Once we got serious, I made him promise to have his heart checked. Dr. Geiss repaired his tricuspid valve and replaced his pulmonary valve and there were no more problems.”

Then the babies started arriving. First a little boy, then a little girl, both perfectly healthy.

Darah, their third child, was another story. “A hole in her heart was detected on day three,” says mom. “They were hoping it would close on its own. She never turned blue or stopped breathing but she was often out of breath and more tired than normal.” Surgery was scheduled for March, when she was almost three months old.

Did her husband’s heart surgery prepare Shelby for her child’s? “Even though I was thoroughly briefed and educated, there’s just nothing more painful than seeing your little one go through this. But Dr. Geiss was wonderful. I was sobbing before the surgery and he stopped by and hugged me. ‘I’ll take good care of her,’ he said. And he did. Darah was home within a few days.

“We can’t say enough about Dr. Geiss. He’s fantastic. We’d follow him anywhere…so we’re lucky he’s here!”

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