CHD Awareness Week

This week is Congenital Heart Defects Awareness week, and some of you might remember that our Allyson was born with a Congenital Heart Defect, Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). A little over 7 months ago Allyson had corrective surgery (a VSD closure) at Oakland Children's Hospital. It was a very trying and humbling experience. While in the hospital we saw many other children with heart problems, almost all of them were far more severe than our Allyson's, it was there that I realized how blessed we were. I have so much empathy for parents of children who have a CHD it is truly a tough and trying situation to be in.

Prior to Allyson's diagnosis I knew next to nothing about CHD and during this CHD awareness week I would like to share a few things about CHD that you might not know:

• Sometime during early pregnancy, a baby's heart may not form properly, resulting in structural abnormalities known as Congenital Heart Defects. In many cases the cause is unknown.
• It is estimated that 40,000 babies with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are born in the United States each year.
• Although some babies will be diagnosed at birth, newborns are not routinely screened for CHD. The consequences of a late diagnosis can have serious, lifelong implications.
• CHD is the most frequently occurring birth defect, and is the leading cause of birth-defect related deaths. Nearly 1,800 infants with CHD die each year as a result of congenital heart defects
• Some CHDs may require visits to a Pediatric Cardiologist. Others can be treated with medications or repaired with surgery and/or procedures. Complex defects may require several surgeries and are never really "cured".

http://tchin.org/aware/facts.htm

If you want to learn more about CHD visit this site. My cousin is also blogging all week about CHD if you want to learn more here.