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Showing posts with the label congenital heart defect awareness

It's Been a Weird Week

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Last weekend, Faith seemed to be struggling with a cold. On Sunday morning, I thought she had slept it off, but unfortunately, it hit full force that evening. Because she was so stuffed up, and had a lot of drainage, she did not sleep well that night. I tried to put her adjustable bed up as much as I could, but it still wasn't enough. Around 3 in the morning I put her in her chair where she slept for a few hours. After I put her back into bed, her sleep was still pretty disruptive. Finally, around 8:30 she had had enough and just wanted to get up for the day.  On Monday, we called to cancel her Tuesday therapy sessions. She was bummed about having to miss aquatic therapy and occupational therapy but took it well. I was trying my best to help her feel better by giving her nose spray (which she was actually asking for), keeping her humidifier going, and also doing this face mask thing that makes steam so that she can breathe it in. She calls it her inhaler.  On Wednesday, she ...
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CHD Awareness Week: My Heart Story (So Far)

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In February 1974 when my mom took me home from the hospital, she thought she had a perfectly healthy baby. But when her mom came for a visit five weeks later to see her granddaughter, she asked why my lips looked discolored. Grandma Dorothy also noticed I slept a lot, even for a newborn. Mom assured Grandma she would ask the doctor about it during my six-week checkup. Mom took me to the same clinic in Wolf Point, Montana, where I had been born. She and Dad were living in a tiny town called Lustre, where Dad worked as a ranch hand. My regular pediatrician was unavailable. Instead, a young doctor, fresh out of medical school examined me.  Dr. Mattley quickly agreed the bluish tint to my lips was disconcerting and because of it, dubbed me a "blue baby." He told Mom that my body wasn't getting enough oxygen, which is why I was cyanotic.  He also detected a heart murmur. An X-ray confirmed a possible heart defect. Following the exam, Dr. Mattley called a clinic in Great Falls,...
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