Author: Melanie Medina
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Is It Okay to Feel Okay?
By Allison McKay Is it okay to feel okay? I ask myself this question often, but as a mom of a heart baby, I’m not sure I should. I almost feel guilty. Our daughter, Jolie Jane, is about one and a half. She has several major heart defects, the main one being HRHS. She…
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Hospital Hacks
By Lindsay Davis I want to preface this article by stating that I find scars to be a beautiful thing that no one should be ashamed of. I wear mine proudly and think of them as warrior markings. When we’ve been through something so difficult, there’s no reason we should be embarrassed by something…
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Financial Considerations During the Hospital Stay
You may be wondering, “Why would I want to think about financial considerations now? I am focused on my child in the hospital. I’ll worry about that later. Financial information will just give me more stress than I already have.” That is a valid point, and you do need to focus on your son…
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The Financial Impact of CHD on Families
The financial impact on your family is probably the second-most stressful part of having a child with CHD. We make health care decisions based on what is best for our children, not what is best for our wallets, so we are often faced with intimidating medical bills after a hospital stay. This can cause…
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Medicare Guide to Heart Disease
By Danielle Kunkle Roberts The term “heart disease” encompasses a variety of conditions that can affect your heart, including coronary heart disease, muscle weakness in the wall of your heart and heart rhythm disorders. Heart disease is a leading cause of death for both men and women in America. Many factors can contribute to…
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Teens Dealing with Congenital Heart Defects
By Lindsay Davis Your high school classmates are picking out prom gowns, and you’re donning another hospital gown. They’re choosing colleges, and you’re meeting with your medical team to discuss your treatment plan. Getting a heart disease diagnosis at any age is hard, but it’s especially difficult on teens. At 17 I was diagnosed…
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A Young Athlete Fights for CHD Awareness
By Lindsay Davis When you were 17, what did you consider your greatest threat? For me, it was receiving a failing grade, not getting into the school I aspired to or falling behind on learning new choreography in ballet class. At the time, I deemed these the worst things that could possibly happen to…
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Learning to Be Thankful
By Melissa O’Donnell, new mom and new CHD advocate and student “I am going to send you to cardiology. It’s probably nothing, but I need you to go now.” My husband and I had just arrived at our two-week pediatric check up. I whispered, “It’s probably nothing” and rolled my eyes at Ryan. I…
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A Heart Mom Takes Things Day by Day
By Sara Toner I stepped into the role of being a heart mom not knowing where it would take me. I didn’t entirely understand the meaning of CHD, and why there were so many subcategories that fit under it. My son Tyler was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) when I was six…
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Listen to Your Heart: Laurie’s Journey with Valve Disease
February 22 is National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day. It’s also the day that Laurie Stirone decided that she would share her journey. As an active retiree and energetic mom of two grown children, Laurie didn’t notice the signs of valve disease. Each year, an estimated 25,000 people in the U.S. die from heart…