Archive for heart
Single Ventricle Cardiac Home Monitoring Program empowers families to care for fragile newborns at home
A single ventricle heart condition is a congenital cardiac defect in which only one of the heart’s two ventricles is functioning properly. It is most often corrected with three surgeries: the first, shortly after birth, the second, when a baby is 4 to 6 months old, and the third in the toddler years. The Single ... Read More
A repair for Charleston’s complex heart
Trey and Jandie Steele both work in medical device sales. They have spent lots of time in hospital operating rooms and are comfortable discussing complex medical procedures with doctors and surgeons. And yet, when their second child, Charleston, was diagnosed with a number of congenital heart defects one week after her birth, they felt blindsided ... Read More
New findings show risk of bleeding and clotting after COVID-19
A year after COVID-19 was first identified, we have some answers about how to prevent and treat this illness, but there are still many questions. Some of the unknowns include what longer-term effects COVID-19 infection may have on the heart and other systems in the body. One of the complications associated with COVID-19 infection is ... Read More
From ICU patient to nursing student: Atiana’s heart journey
Atiana Lancaster was 13 and playing the last few games of lacrosse season in 2015 when she started having unusual — and worrying — symptoms. “I had horrible headaches, tiredness, chest pain, and trouble breathing, so I had to keep going off the field when I was playing,” she says. “At the time, I thought ... Read More
The brightest rainbow follows the darkest storm: Our PVS journey
Caroline is our rainbow baby, born after the loss of another child, the light and color arising after a storm passes. A rainbow baby lifts a family in desperate need of lifting. It is a beautiful thing that I hope you never experience. Caroline was born on Dec. 10, 2015. Just three months later, my ... Read More
It’s American Heart Month: Test your knowledge of congenital heart defects
Each year, about 1 percent of all babies are born with a congenital heart defect (CHD). This makes CHDs the most common type of birth defect in the United States. But how much do you know about congenital heart defects? Test your knowledge by taking our True/False quiz. True or False? A congenital heart defect ... Read More
Returning to sports after having COVID-19
Mikey LaCroix, age 23, competes in snowboard cross for the U.S. Snowboard Team. In late 2020, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and had mild symptoms including a low-grade fever, chills, and loss of smell and taste that lasted about two weeks. Before returning to the slopes after his illness, Mikey had to go through specific ... Read More
Appreciating the small things: A New York family’s journey with CHD
The Harris family of Monroe, New York, are no strangers to congenital heart disease (CHD). Eighteen-year-old Jack Jr. grew up living with CHD, but had always been active. His father, Jack Sr., had also lived an active adulthood, completely unaware of his future CHD diagnosis. When they each found themselves in need of heart surgery, ... Read More
Coordinated care and research for genetic cardiovascular disorders
Genetic cardiovascular disease in children sometimes comes to light in a crisis — a sudden collapse, sudden breathing difficulty, a sudden death in the family. Or it may be part of a diverse collection of symptoms, mostly having nothing to do with the heart. Sometimes it is picked up incidentally. “From an incidental ECG finding ... Read More
Heart strong: Two families bond over shared challenges
Four years ago, Ali Marcus walked through the door of a coffee shop in Connecticut and met the woman who would soon become her close friend, Britt Sheiber. The two were meeting at the suggestion of a mutual friend: Britt had just learned at a prenatal visit that one of her twins would be born ... Read More