6.3. SR 02-02-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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JA N z 6 2015 Mr.John Dietz: Hi, my name is Natalie Barker and i am writing to discuss Congenkal Heart Defect Awareness Week. Every year heart families across Minnesota (and the entire country)declare February 7th-14th Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. Did you know that Congenital Heart Defects(CND's) are America's and every country's#1 birth defect? Nearly one of every 100 babies is born with a CHD. Let me tell you a little about my personal experience with Congenital Heart Defects. Five Years ago on February 15th, 2010, 1 thought that I was giving birth to a completely healthy baby boy, Aidden. My ultrasounds were perfect and my pregnancy was wonderful! Two days, later on February 17th, 2010, 1 got the most horrifying news about my sweet baby boy. He had a Congenital Heart Defect known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Children with HLHS have a very poor prognosis in life; therefore we were given three options of how we wanted to proceed with our cares for him.We could take him home and left him pass away, undergo three open heart surgeries within the first 4 years of life or go on a heart transplant list.We chose to give our baby boy the biggest chance of undergoing three open heart surgeries. So that's what we did and today Aidden has undergone three open heart surgeries and many hospitalizations. He is doing much, much better than anyone expected that he would do. In the future, Aidden will need a heart transplant, due to the fact that over the years he will eventually end up in heart failure. However,today we are letting him live his life to the fullest and letting him be the child that he wants to be. Every day is a journey and a journey that I would never trade because it has taught me so much about life itself. Here are some facts about Congenital Heart Defects:. • Congenital heart defects are the#1 cause of birth defect related deaths. • Congenital heart defects are the leading cause of all infant deaths in the United States. • Each year approximately 40,000 babies are born in the United States with a congenital heart defect. Thousands of them will not reach their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood. • Each year over 1,000,000 babies are born worldwide with a congenital heart defect. 100,000 of them will not live to see their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood. Almost half all children and adults with complex congenital heart disease have neurological and developmental disabilities. *There are an estimated 2,000,000 CHD survivors in the United States. • For the first time, more than 50%of the CHD survivors are adults. • 10%of all CHD cases evaluated in an Adult CHD clinic are first diagnosed in adulthood 91,000 life years are lost each year in this country due to congenital heart defects.