Heat's Miller dealing with daughter's illness during NBA Finals

http://www.jjbsports.com/
 Mike Miller will play these NBA Finals with a heavy heart, amid concerns of a tiny heart, but at least with his newborn daughter closer to his heart.

The Miami Heat forward said Sunday that his daughter, Jaelyn, had been released from a Broward hospital Saturday. She spent the initial days of her life in intensive care because of a ventricular septal defect, in this case, according to Miller, "four holes in her heart, which were causing problems with her breathing."

Miller left his daughter's side to fly with the team for Thursday's Eastern Conference finals-clinching victory against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center, but otherwise the schedule has allowed him to fulfill his Heat obligations without putting distance between himself and his family.

This week, hospital visits are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, with the Heat later each night playing Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks at AmericanAirlines Arena.

For the short term, there is relief.
cheap custom jerseys
"She goes back Tuesday, actually has doctors' appointments all week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday," he said. "We'll find out how everything is going then and hopefully keep her out."

For now, there is a waiting game.

"They started her on some meds," he said. "Her breathing got a little better. It's still not where we want it. But we're going to find out this week and figure out in the next hopefully month or two if she'll need surgery or not."

Miller, who lives in northern Broward, also has two young sons.

An estimated eight in 1,000 newborns are born with some sort of congenital heart defect, with VSD representing 25 to 30 percent of all congenital heart defects. Some are naturally healing.
 custom nba jerseys
Miller said his teammates have been particularly supportive.

"They've been great," he said. "Obviously, there's guys that understand what's going on as an athlete, when you have something else going on, because everyone's kind of been through, I'm sure, something personal when they're playing.

"Unfortunately, sometimes it comes at times like this, when it's the Eastern Conference finals or Finals, but they've been great."