Blog
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Jace Avanzato
Jace Avanzato was born in October of 2021, in the middle of a pandemic. His diagnosis, Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia and Double Outlet Right Ventricle, required surgery at just 10 days old. The Avanzato Family had to endure a lengthy hospital stay without visits from family and friends, but that made their return…
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Heart Strong: Volunteer Sabrina Dodd & Her Warrior Sons
Sabrina, the VP of Conquering CHD – Tennessee, has two sons, Dakota and Brody, both born with CHD. Dakota in 2002 with Pulmonary Stenosis and Brody in 2004 with Pulmonary Stenosis and Aortic Insufficiency. Both sons required emergency surgery. Thankfully, now both Dakota and Brody are looking forward to bright futures! “Finding Conquering CHD has…
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A Grandma’s View of CHD
We often share stories from patients and parents of children with CHD, but there’s more to the CHD community. This Heart Month, we’re sharing stories from the voices less often heard, but no less important. In this guest blog, Vickie, the grandma of a child with CHD, shares her perspective on the impact CHD has…
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Luke Toth
Like many newly married couples, we were over the moon to learn we were expecting our first baby! We vividly remember deciding the entire ride to our ultrasound if we should find out whether we were having a boy or girl. Soon after arriving, we quickly learned that instead of finding out our baby’s gender,…
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Hudson Heyward
Hudson was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and spent more than 176 days inpatient. Now home with his family, Hudson’s first Christmas is sure to be extra special. Read about his battle with HLHS and how beauty can be found even in terrible circumstances. Hudson was 9 days old when he was diagnosed with…
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Our Beautiful Boy – JT’s Story
My husband, Michael, and I had been trying to have a baby for over three years (through gestational surrogacy), and after several failed attempts and a miscarriage, we finally made it to the second trimester! When Michael, Michelle (our surrogate), and I attended the 20-week anatomy scan, we were shocked to find out that our…
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Donate Life Month – Pam’s Transplant Story
Growing up, like many born in the early days of congenital heart surgery, Pam Ensley thought she was fixed. But after a mostly normal life, including marriage and children, she learned she needed the gift of the perfect match.
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Blaze’s Cause Candle Initiative
On March 29, 2020, Cecilia was born with congenital heart disease. Congenital heart disease is the most common disability at birth in the United States and worldwide with nearly 40,000 babies expected to be born with CHD in the U.S. this year. On November 16, 2020, Cece took her final breath after numerous surgeries in…
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Camila
Camila nació el 5 de octubre del 2018. Seis días antes de que naciera, fue diagnosticada con estenosis de la válvula pulmonar y comunicación interauricular. La noticia nos tomó a todos por sorpresa. En ese momento estábamos viviendo en California en el Área de la Bahía y cuando Camila nació fue inmediatamente transferida al hospital de niños Benioff en…
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The Foligno Family
“We don’t look at the world with rose-colored glasses, but we are optimists through and through. We believe in turning obstacles into opportunity, that forward is a mindset, and that there are tools to help us at any place you find yourself on life’s journey.”