Congenital Heart Defect Awareness - Day 8

Happy Heart Day!  We hope you make this a special day and remember those whose hearts are not as healthy.  On the final day of Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Awareness Week, we are bringing you some facts about CHDs - some you may know and some you may not.

Shaun White as born with a Tetralogy of Fallot, a CHD for which he endured two open-heart operations before the age of one.  This is the same CHD that our nanny's son has.  Our nanny told us a story of a man who was in his 70's with Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) and never had any surgical intervention.  He only found out that he had ToF when he got his oxygen saturation measured and had lived his entire life with a much lower oxygen saturation level.

You never know who you will meet that has been affected by a CHD.  I personally know 3 friends, 2 friends from high school, and 1 sorority sister who all have a child with a CHD - that I did not know about before our daughter was born with a CHD.  This is in addition to those we have met because of our involvement in the CHD community.

John Ritter died of an undiagnosed CHD.

Max Page, the boy who played Darth Vader in the VW Super Bowl Commercial in 2011, has ToF and had surgery on the same day that Audra had her catheterization in June of 2012.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick supports CHDs because his parents lost two babies to CHDs before they adopted him. Here is the story: Kaepernicking for Kids.

There is no known reason for most CHDs, including HLHS.  Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers tight end, had a son in October of 2012 with HLHS.  Here is the story: TJ Olsen Comes Home.