Tag: Support Network
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Battle Scars
By Mark Buttell Living with scars has not always been the most ego-boosting part of my life. When you’re young, it’s fun to show your battle scars, and of course, most older folks were amazed that a 5-year-old was showing them scars from open-heart surgery. Back in the 1970s, it wasn’t very common, and looking…
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Sometimes Strength Comes In Knowing You Are Not Alone
By Lauren Backe “Where did the idea for the heart warrior photoshoot come from?” is a question I’ve gotten asked a lot recently. And that’s a long answer, partially because I’m not the most concise person. And it’s partially because there were lots of little things that made it all come together, including: 1)…
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So Long as They’re Healthy
So Long as He’s Healthy “So long as he’s healthy,” she said. Inwardly, I cringe And my heart weeps a little. I ask myself, “But what if he’s not?” Will you not love him? Will you be unable to find happiness? Will you wish you didn’t have him? What do you mean by, “So…
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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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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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What Is ‘Hearts Unite the Globe’ or HUG?
By Anna Jaworski You may have seen a logo that is a globe with a circle of hearts hugging it. That’s the logo for Hearts Unite the Globe: A Nonprofit Organization for the Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Community. This organization was started 20 years ago by a group of heart parents and grandparents. The purpose…
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Dear Heart Parents, Let Yourself Be Angry
By Michelle Bowers Four years later, and I’m still angry. After all these years, I am still mad. Most parents take their babies home — friends and family visit; it’s a joyous occasion. That’s not how I remember May 21, 2014. I woke up that morning with a healthy baby; I went to bed…
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Moments That Matter
By Jodi Smith Lemacks, Esq., National Program Director of Mended Little Hearts Mended Little Hearts (MLH) has been supporting families with children who have congenital heart defects/disease (CHD) since 2004, which coincidentally, is the year Facebook was started in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Two MLH groups, one in Hollywood, Florida and one in Fresno, California, began to bring CHD families…
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Q&A with Dallas Heart Mom and Fundraiser Dawn Strauss
By Whitney Reed Whitney became a heart mom in 2015, when her daughter was born with Pulmonary Atresia with VSD. Her daughter has had three open-heart surgeries — one was planned and two were emergencies. Reed lives in Carrollton, Texas, a large suburb outside of Dallas, and is a member of Mended Little Hearts…
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Preparing an Older Child for Heart Surgery or Cath: From the Experts
Getting through a child’s heart surgery or cardiac catheterization (cath) is hard enough when the child is little and doesn’t really understand what is happening, but preparing an older child or young adult for a major heart procedure can be difficult for parents and for the older child. Luckily, there are experts—the patients themselves…