Thursday, May 6, 2010

Did you know...


1% of the world's population will be born with some type of heart disease. Only 1/3 of those people will actually be diagnosed, and fewer receive life saving surgery.

Wow. Take a minute and re-read the above statements.

I found this website while I was looking up some information on congenital heart defects. The website goes on to explain that in developing nations, when a baby is born with a congenital heart defect it is often undiagnosed until the child begins to have difficulty eating, not growing, and turning blue. This is when the nightmare begins for the child and his or her parents. "Local doctors will tell them there is no one who can help in their country. They will be told that they can send their child to London, or the United States or some other developed country that has trained doctors. But, it costs more money than most of these parents would ever see in their lifetime." Imagine the anguish of parents in underdeveloped or remote regions who have no one to work this miracle on their suffering child. Imagine having no alternative to watching your child waste away and die. A simple procedure performed by skilled surgeons could save many children. The challenge is to get skilled doctors to the children in time to save them. As I continued reading the website I learned that it is an actual site that recruits medical personnel to travel to these underdeveloped countries to save childrens' lives!! How amazing is that? A recruiting site to assist low-income individuals, whose family member needs surgery to save their life. If you have some time, you should check it out: http://www.babyheart.org/ <<

On another note, I know that it has been a long time since I have written. I've been extremely busy working on a plan that I think will make a difference in CHD research. It's not anything spectacular at the moment, but hopefully when i'm ready to unveil my "project" it will spread by word of mouth. I really think that we, as a community, can make a difference in these childrens lives!! Remember, every penny counts!! I'm searching for an organization right now that I can partner up with. Once I find one, I'll be ready to let you guys know what's happening! If anyone knows of a charitable CHD organization/foundation (local or international) please let me know. (My e-mail address is HigginsBD@yahoo.com)

 Other than that Jaidy is doing absolutely wonderfully! On the 16th it will be two months since her surgery and she is doing AWESOME! If you were unable to see her scar, you would never be able to tell she had anything wrong with her. I'm so blessed to have such an ANGEL here on earth with me. She is growing up soooo fast! I need time to SLOWWWWW down!! :-)
 
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About Me

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My name is Brandi and my darling honey and I have been together a little over four years now. Four months ago I gave birth to our first daughter, Jaida. This little girl is the most amazing Angel that one could imagine. God has truly blessed us in several aspects! I decided to start this blog in order to share Jaida's heart journey with family and friends near and far. Our darling daughter Jaida was born with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and will be undergoing open heart surgery on March the 16th. My hope is that one day perhaps another heart mom will come across my blog as I have come across several myself, and find that my experiences can possibly help them through their own. Having a child with a heart condition can be awfully challenging mentally, physically and emotionally but EVERYTHING is possible through the hands of GOD.

About Jaida's Special Heart

My daughter was prenatally diagnosed with a Congenital Heart defect (CHD) called Tetralogy of Fallot when I was 22 weeks pregnant. This specific defect is made up of four different issues. The first issue is the ventricular septal defect (VSD) which is a hole between the ventricles. In Jaida's case, she had three large holes (one they did not know about until she was in the operating room) all of which had to be patched. The next issue is obstruction from the right ventricle to the lungs (pulmonary stenosis). Jaida's aorta also lay directly over the VSD which causes thickened muscle in that region that needs to be removed. Lastly, in Jaida's case, the pulmonary valve was extremely small for her gestational age. Unfortunately, due to its cartiledge-like texture, it could not be saved and was removed completely during surgery. Many children can go several years without needing a valve.. some can live life forever without one (most will need one). However, medical professionals are working on a new, less invasive approach to valve replacements. Instead of re-opening the chest cavity between the breastbone, researchers are trying catheterization (a tube placed inside of the vein & artery in the groin that lead up to the heart). I know that before the diagnosis of my daughter's condition, I had no idea about heart disease whatsoever. The bad thing is most people don't know anything about CHD unless they know someone who has it, or it happens to them or their child. Because of this, heart disease research is being poorly funded. In order to research trials and studies for less invasive life-saving surgery for children and families with CHD, it is imperative that more people familiarize themselves with this disease. This type of funding allows doctors to save millions of lives every year. So I encourage you to get involved and to get educated, because this disease is extremely serious and a lot more common than you may think.



Jaida's Story