Angelina's Warriors of CHD Awareness ~ Ohio's Interests
General
What is a congenital heart defect?
Congenital heart defects are structural problems with the heart present at birth. They result when a mishap occurs during heart development soon after conception and often before the mother is aware that she is pregnant. Defects range in severity from simple problems, such as "holes" between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, such as complete absence of one or more chambers or valves.
Is all heart disease in children congenital?
No, but most is. These defects are usually but not always diagnosed early in life. Rarely, heart disease is not congenital but may occur during childhood such as heart damage due to infection. This type of heart disease is called acquired; examples include Kawasaki disease and rheumatic fever. Children also can be born with or develop heart rate problems such as slow, fast, or irregular heart beats, known as "arrhythmias".
Who is at risk to have a child with a congenital heart defect?
Anyone can have a child with a congenital heart defect. Out of 1000 births, 8 babies will have some form of congenital heart disorder, most of which are mild. If you or other family members have already had a baby with a heart defect, your risk of having a baby with heart disease may be higher.
How many people in the United States have a congenital heart defect?
Estimates suggest that about 1,000,000 Americans have a congenital heart defect. Approximately 35,000 babies are born with a defect each year.
Why do congenital heart defects occur?
Most of the time we do not know. Although the reason defects occur is presumed to be genetic, only a few genes have been discovered that have been linked to the presence of heart defects. Rarely the ingestion of some drugs and the occurrence of some infections during pregnancy can cause defects.
How can I tell if my baby or child has a congenital heart defect?
Severe heart disease generally becomes evident during the first few months after birth. Some babies are blue or have very low blood pressure shortly after birth. Other defects cause breathing difficulties, feeding problems, or poor weight gain. Minor defects are most often diagnosed on a routine medical check up. Minor defects rarely cause symptoms. While most heart murmurs in children are normal, some may be due to defects.
How serious is the problem?
Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect and are the number one cause of death from birth defects during the first year of life. Nearly twice as many children die from congenital heart disease in the United States each year as die from all forms of childhood cancers combined. Over 91,000 life years are lost each year in the US due to congenital heart disease. Charges for care exceed 2.2 billion dollars, for inpatient surgery alone.
Are things improving?
Definitely. Overall mortality has significantly declined over the past few decades. For example, in the 1960s and 1970s the risk of dying following congenital heart surgery was about 30% and today it is around 5%.
How well can people with congenital heart defects function?
Virtually all children with simple defects survive into adulthood. Although exercise capacity may be limited, most people lead normal or nearly normal lives. For more complex lesions, limitations are common. Some children with congenital heart disease have developmental delay or other learning difficulties.
What is the social/financial impact of congenital heart defects?
Successful treatment requires highly specialized care. Severe congenital heart disease requires extensive financial resources both in and out of the hospital. Children with developmental delay also require community and school-based resources to achieve optimum functioning.
What is the impact of congenital heart disease on families?
The presence of a serious congenital heart defect often results in an enormous emotional and financial strain on young families at a very vulnerable time. Patient/family education is an important part of successful coping.
Where can I get additional information?
Additional information can be obtained from the American Heart Association. You can reach them by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1 (1-800-242-8721) or via the internet at www.americanheart.org/children.
Music
Click on these links to take you directly to their site. It's completely free!!!
Books
Go to the following site for more resources on books pertaining to Congenital Heart Defects.
http://www.congenitalheartdefects.com/books.html
One book that I highly reccomend is Walk on Water by Michael Ruhlman =O)
Heroes
Angelina's Warriors of CHD Awareness ~ Ohio's Details
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Leo
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About me:
Hello everyone & welcome to my page. Here's a little info. about me. I have 2 boys who are my world. My youngest son was born with Coarctation of the Aorta & Bicuspid Aortic Valve. He had surgery when he was 11 days old to repair his coarctation & had been doing well ever since. In my spare time (whenever that may be) I love the mess around on PSP, digital scrapbooking, play the Nintendo Wii. If you'd like to know anything else please feel free to ask.
Here's a picture of my son, please do not take without my permission!!
I would also like to let you know that I will be having a CHD Warrior of the week. Anyone can share their stories of themselves or their children. Your story can be as long or as short as you'd like it to be, it's all up to you. You can also send some pictures in along with your story & I will make a scrapbooking page with the pictures (I may not use all but the more you send the more I have to work with)
Also...each child that is the CHD Warrior of the week will recieve a gift bag from the wonderful organzation AFiveOh4 Uplifting. They're on my top friends list if you'd like to learn more about them or you can also click on the following banner.
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Who I'd like to meet:
**WHILE WATCHING THE VIDEO PAUSE THE MUSIC ON MY MUSIC PLAYER TO HEAR THE MUSIC PLAYING FROM THE VIDEO** A extra special thanks to Vanessa from CHD Heart for allowing me to add this video to my page!!
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY ,IT IS A BLESSING TO HAVE YOU. WE ARE A NEW SUPPORT GROUP THAT IS HERE TO GIVE YOU AN EAR OR A TEAR ! WE ARE HERE TO CRY WITH YOU,LAUGH WITH YOU BUT NEVER AT YOU. THE WORLD IS A TOUGH PLACE AND IF YOU READ THE BLOGS AND RULES YOU WILL SEE WHAT TAT IS ALL ABOUT AND IN WHY TAT WAS STARTED THAT IS MY LIFE. WE ARE TRYING TO GO NATIONWIDE AND HAVE A PARTNER IN EACH STATE FOR SUPPORT AND COMPASSION AND JUST FREINDSHIP IF NEEDED.MY GOALS ARE TO ASSIST THOSE IN NEED FOR ABUSE,CANCER ,DEPRESSION AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU SEE ON OUR PROFILE'S .SO TAKE A LOOK AT EACH ONE AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT WE REPRESENT YOU CAN FIND OUR PARTNERS BY THE PINK ROSE.I HAVE A LEGACY HERE AND A DREAM THAT I HAVE WORKED SO HARD TO DO AND SUFFERED GREAT LOSSES THAT HAVE MADE ME WANT TO DO THIS. TAKE A LOOK AT OUR ALBUMS AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE IN OUR SUPPORT TEAM ALBUM PLEASE LET ME KNOW WE WOULD BE HONORED TO HAVE YOU IN IT AND ALSO WE HAVE AN ALBUM FOR STAFF AND GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER AND IF YOU KNOW ANYONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO BE A TAT PARTNER PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME WE ONLY REQUIRE LOVE AND DEDICATION FOR 1 -2 HOURS A DAY & WE ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT OUR FUTURE OF POSSIBILITIES OF HELPING OTHERS ,LOVE AND GOD BLESS TAMMY AND THE TAT SISTERS STAFF. HUGS XOXO P, YOU WILL GET AN INVITE FROM YOUR STATE REP'S SO PLEASE ACCEPT THOSE AS THE POSITION'S GET FILLED THANKS P.S CHECK OUT ALL OUR PAGES ,WE HAVE A RESOURCE PAGE, SURVIVOR'S PAGE , COMMITTEE PAGE , MOTIVATIONAL PAGE & A PRAYER PAGE ALSO. HUGS XOXO
Hey Angelina's Warriors, just checkin in to see how you're doing and thank you from my heart for supporting my Scarred For Life child abuse project! Jimmy Browder
Hello! I have twin girls who are 6 and they are my world. Marissa had surgery to correct a VSD at 2yrs and is great! Her twin sister Kaelyn went to the pediatrician today, and after 6hrs of testing, at 6 she was dignosed with atrial septal defect and aortic stinosis..surgery will be friday..God Bless you for what you do!
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