I am participating in the Congenital Heart Walk to support the mission of The Children's Heart Foundation: to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of congenital heart defects by funding the most promising research.
My son, Harrison, was born with a complex congenital heart defect called tricuspid atresia. He had surgery in June of this year. The procedure he underwent is called a Fontan, and it was first performed less than 60 years ago. Doctors are learning from those first patients what the long-term outlook is for people like Harrison. We are learning what can improve his quality of life and what can put him in danger.
This was Harrison's third heart surgery, but it probably will not be his last. And it definitely was not his last procedure. Three weeks after his discharge he was back in the emergency room because he had fluid built up around his heart, a not uncommon complication of open heart surgery. The issue was discovered, the fluid was drained, and we went home. But his battle with CHD is not going to end there.
Harrison, and all the children, teenagers and adults like him, rely on research funded by The Children's Heart Foundation to give him his best chance for a long, happy, healthy life. Please consider supporting their efforts.
