Lessons Learned as a Congenital Heart Patient
Guiding Spirit to the Upcoming Series of Articles
Articles in This Series
Five Expectations My Parents Had of Me as a Kid with Congenital Heart Disease
Why Do I Work With a Homeless Shelter When I Have a Congenital Heart Defect?
Four Lessons from Reading Letters from 1985
Writing with the Ears of the Heart
The Aim: Meet and ENJOY My Grandkids
Why I Haven’t Told My Kids About My Heart Problem
How I Prepared for Open Heart Surgery. Part 1: Financial Preparation
How I Prepared for Open Heart Surgery. Part 2: Mental and Physical Preparation
In these articles, I explore my experiences as an adult living with a congenital heart disease (CHD). This exploration may help me identify areas, decisions and practices that have helped me enjoy an overall high quality of life during my 46 years on “our third stone satellite.” Perhaps other adults with CHD, and parents and families with children with CHD, will find these adventures useful points for themselves.
The guiding spirit of this effort: CHD and other congenital medical patients simply are different and, therefore, special. However long or short our lives, whatever our outcomes, may we and our families tap into that specialness to derive lessons about the human heart to share with the world. And may humanity grow in understanding and compassion through the gift of those lessons. May this series add in a small way to that growth, and understanding.
A couple of additional notes. I offer personal experience only, not medical advice. Patients with congenital health issues need tailored, specialized and skillful medical care throughout their lives. Please seek out medical professionals knowledgeable in you or your child’s unique health issues.
As much as I intend to write articles of use to readers, I also have a wish about these essays. I dream of a day when medical progress will advance to a point that all congenital patients will delight in prosaic and healthy human lives. So hopefully no one will read these articles in 100 or 50 or even 30 years.
Thank you for reading and joining. Onward!
