CHD Awareness

Today marks the first day of CHD Awareness Week. You may not know exactly what CHD is but I encourage you to find out. Prior to our little Benji being born we had only heard one other case and it was one of my cousins. It still didn't really mean anything because she had other things wrong.

Benji was born with 4 defects. He was born with
PDA, that is where the temporary valve that flows from the pulmonary and aortic arteries doesn't close after birth,
CoA, that is coarctation of the aorta where the main artery that comes off the heart is narrow and the blood can't freely flow,
Bicuspid aortic valve, instead of having three flaps in the valve like a health heart does there is only 2 flaps causing the blood to flow both ways through the valve
Aortic Stenosis, this is a side affect from the others. The aorta around the valve has gotten thick and narrow.

When Benji was a week old (born March 2, 2005 surgery was March 9, 2005), the surgeon removed the PDA and repaired the CoA with a subclaivian flap (essentially used another artery to fix it). We are told that Benji will eventually have to have another surgery to fix the valve. We are praying that God fixes it himself, but are also praying that if it is another surgery that it will be later in life so that the likelihood of another will not be as great.

I encourage you to read up and support CHD efforts. It could very easily be affecting somebody you know, a sibling, a friend, a child, a neighbor... anybody.