Did you know that Valentines Day is also National CHD Awareness Day. I don't know where I'm going with this. I just wanted everyone to know that congenital heart disease is actually a lot more common than you think. It is THE MOST common birth defect among babies (Not specifically Ivy's heart defect, but heart defects in general), affecting more than 35,000 infants every year.
So in honor of my sweet little CHD survivor I just want to shout out to the doctors who made it possible for us to have our amazing little girl brightening up our lives every single day. None of them even know this blog exists, but I want to honor them anyway.
Dr. Peter Kouretas: He preformed Ivy's Norwood Procedure when she was 6 days old, as well as the Norwood repair 11 days later when she had a complication. Then when she was 11 months old he preformed her Glenn Procedure as well. Without his steady hands and expertise, we may not have our little ray of sunshine.
Dr. Michael Womack: He has been Ivy's Pediatric Cardiologist since before she was born. I have sung his praises many times. We seriously adore Dr. Womack. He is the doctor who gave us her diagnosis before birth and has always been so optimistic about how everything is going. He is a great guy and we are lucky to have him!
Dr. Joseph Kiehl: He is Ivy's Pediatrician. We seriously adore Dr. Kiehl also. He is great with Ivy and all the other kids too. He always remembers all the kids by name, and does such a great job. I remember right before Malcolm was born Ivy hurt her leg on the trampoline and refused to walk. The next day I took her in to his office, but he was out of town so I saw the nurse practitioner instead. She sent us to the hospital to take x-rays and it was discovered that she had no broken bones so we were told rest the leg and that she should be walking again soon. 2 days later when Dr. Keihl returned to work he heard about Ivy and was concerned so he called me to check on her and make sure she started walking again. I was so impressed that he cared enough to call. I don't think our old pediatrician in SLC would have given her a single thought!
Dr. Phillip Burch: This is the doctor that preformed Ivy's most recent surgery, the Fontan, last July. We don't know him as well as the other doctors, but he did his job well and Ivy is here today because of that, so we are eternally grateful.
Also, all the cardiologists (even Dr. Jerkface who will remain unnamed), nurses and other random people at PCMC who helped care for Ivy over the years. We don't know all their names, and they probably don't even remember Ivy because they deal with so many people, but we are very thankful that they are competent at what they do and were able to help us keep our sweet girl.
We are also so grateful for our support system. This includes everyone who knows our situation and actively supports us by giving us a place to stay during surgeries, babysitting, praying, bringing us food, giving shoulders to cry on, calling to talk things out, and just being there when we need. We are so grateful for all of you out there. You keep us going.
And thank you to Ivy for being so darn great! We are honored to have her in our lives. She makes life worth living and brings so much joy to our family. I can't even imagine what life would be like without her, and can't even think about that. We love her so much and are so proud of her everyday.
If you are still reading this, bless you for your patience. Happy Valentines Day, and CHD Awareness Day!
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