We’re back home and on the mend. It was a bit of a tough transistion, getting nursing care arranged for both at home and at school and so Lily was away from school longer than we had hoped, but she went back late last week and has been as happy as they come ever since. …
The moment that Lily’s surgeon started talking is captured like a snapshot in my mind. For me, it’s the line in the sand that defined “before” and “after”. We, unlike so many parents of children with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD), knew of Lily’s original heart issues, AVSD and Coarctation of Aorta; we were prepared for …
5 years. Since just after that horrible day 4 years ago, the goal has been 5 years. “Take her home and grow her,” they told us, “if the day comes when she needs a heart-lung transplant, the success rate improves dramatically once a child is 5.” It seemed impossible. 5 years felt more like a …
There are absolutely no words to describe the day we had…but of course I’m going to try. Today was Lily’s playground build – an incredible gift granted to her by the Million Dollar Smiles foundation and sponsored by the Bank of Montreal. The volunteers were all in place by 9am this morning, and after a …
By being a, “heart mom”, we get to see a lot of amazing things that happen on the 4th floor of Sick Kids. The staff – doctors, nurses, OT’s, dieticians, child life specialists – they all play such a huge role in making incredibly scary situations actually seem managable. Luckily, behind them, is a group …
February is Heart Month – the month that celebrates love also takes a little time to bring awareness about CHD (Congential Heart Disease) to the forefront of people’s minds. Yesterday my Facebook page, twitter feed and blogrolls were all filled with people sharing their experiences – hopeful experiences. I struggled all day trying to figure …