I'm the youngest of four and the son of a pediatrician. My father always demonstrated a great connection with his patients. I could always tell he truly loved taking care of them. Because of this, I always wanted to follow in his footsteps.
As a native of Louisiana, I did my medical school and pediatrics residency at Louisiana State University. The instant I did my pediatric rotation, I was sold. During that time, I also found a love for cardiology. This led me to Nashville where I completed my pediatric cardiology and arrhythmia training at Vanderbilt University.
The most important thing I have learned over the years of my practice is that no matter the age of your patient, how they are feeling currently, or the concerns that they are having, what they (and the family) want is for you to be honest and show that you really care about what is in their best interest. You have to demonstrate to a child that you care, they sense that. Children have to know that you mean what you say. You have to be there for your patients and your partners. This may be with reassuring words or walking them through a procedure that needs to be done.
As medical director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory, I would like to introduce some of the services that we provide. I have three outstanding partners that work with me to perform heart catheterizations on children and young adults of all ages. We continue to strive to stay at the forefront of our field and bring in the latest technology. On the arrhythmia front we are employing a new three dimensional mapping system that we use to aid in ablation procedures to treat abnormal heart rhythms. Recently my colleagues have initiated a program to place heart valves in patients through a vein in their leg, thus avoiding open heart surgery in certain situations. Overall we strive to provide the best possible environment and care for our patients and their families, as we know how stressful an illness can be.
On a personal note, my family and I moved to Fort Worth in 2007. We have loved living here ever since. The family can be found visiting the zoo, botanical gardens or the Trinity Trails for outdoor activities. I have always loved car racing and also I do some amateur track driving myself. Many weekends are now spent at the baseball or soccer fields cheering on the kids. Even though I grew up in Louisiana, most of my patients tell me I don't sound like I'm from there. My father is from Ohio and was in the military being transferred to Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana. I believe he neutralized my accent quite a bit, but I still love LSU football and Louisiana cuisine. Being from Louisiana we love to eat! I have defiantly adopted Texas barbeque as the best (sorry Tennessee). If I'm not cooking on the Green Egg or eating my wife's fantastic cooking, you can run into us at many of the restaurants in town.
