I never was fond of Valentine's Day in my days of singularity, but things have changed a bit. Not only do I have the love of my life, but I also have the priviledge of being a Heart Mom. This week is congenital heart defect (CHD) awareness week. I'm a nurse, but before Natalie was born, I didn't know that 1/100 babies are born with a heart defect. The part about CHD's wasn't highlighted much in my pediatrics class at nursing school in the early 90's. In fact, I didn't know that kids could actually live with only half of a functioning heart. Where babies were sent home to die 25-40 years ago, they now have a chance to live. There is so much that has been learned in pediatric cardiology in the last 20 years. But less than a penny of American Heart Association money is spent on research on CHD's. It saddens me that so much money is put into research for adult cardiovascular disease which is largely brought about by lifestyle choices. Nearly twice as many children in the US die from congenital heart defects than all childhood cancers combined. These little ones had no choice in the way their hearts formed. CHD's strike all races, nationalities and economic classes. Yet there hasn't been significant research to determine if CHD's could be brought about by genetic, environmental or other problems. Lets be an advocate for these voiceless little ones. Support research for Congenital Heart Disease.
http://www.childrensheartfoundation.org/donate-now
It was so great talking to you last night! I woke up in the night (well, to feed Sam of course) and was so excited just thinking about the possiblity of Natalie's repair! God surely has had a BIG hand in all of this...the hurry up and wait, the cancellations, etc. for her last summer was all worth it if this can be part of the scenario!
ReplyDeleteLove her beautiful eyes too--she's looking so grown up!