As a Pediatric Cardiac ICU nurse in DC, I have the privledge of working directly with children age 0-18 who are born with congential heart disease. In most cases, our babies need open heart surgery and/or other invasive interventions within the first year of life (sometimes even the first day!) and many need numerous palliations throughout their life.
Our Heart Heroes overcome unfathomable challenges with astounding strength and resiliency. I witness more miracles than I can count. The reason I am running for Children's Heart Foundation with such pride, is not only because I get to help support research to advance medical interventions and improve quality of life for people living with CHD, but because I get to carry this resilience into something I love to do and honor each patient I am privledged enough to know and care for.
THANK YOU, from the bottom of our hearts, for helping truly save a life.
A little bit about CHDs!
-CHDs are America’s most common birth defect
-40,000 babies (that's 1 in every 4 births) in JUST the US are affected by CHDs each year
-More than 2 million adults and children in the US are living with a CHD
-There has been a 37.5% decrease in death rates from CHD since 1999 because of significant medical advancements and evolving research, with so much work left to be done