Did you know that Congenital Heart Defects (CHDs) are the most common birth defects in the United States, affecting approximately 1 in every 110 (about 40,000) babies each year?
February 7 kicks off Congenital Heart Defect Awareness week and we’ve been blessed with a little heart warrior, Lorenzo!
Lorenzo underwent open heart surgery when he was only 2 months old, on April 6, 2016. Was the surgery a success? The doctors believed so, so did we! He had an ASD & VSD repair and during surgery they discovered a third hole in which they repaired also. Post-surgery, he had various echocardiograms and EKGs which all confirmed there was still a small, microscopic hole leaking fluid. Nothing to panic about – just monitor! Wasn’t going to affect his day-to-day activities or prevent him from sports and so on…
Fast-forward to 2021 – we received a pretty awesome gift this Christmas from MUSC Cardiology. We had a follow-up echocardiogram in December (after not being seen for almost 2 years due to Covid-19) and they are not seeing the microscopic hole previously documented. We couldn’t tell you how incredible that was to hear. While we will continue to have it monitored annually –– we are confident the hole has closed.
We have the bravest little heart warrior who also struggles with a mild case of Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy. Lorenzo is the most amazing little boy, who just celebrated his 6th birthday last week. In honor of Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, we wanted to share his story and provide and update on is overall progress!
CHD Facts*
• Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common birth defects in the United States, affecting approximately 1 in every 110 (about 40,000) babies each year. One in 4 of them will need surgery or medical intervention to survive.
• There are 2-4 million Americans living with congenital heart defects. Because there is no U.S. system to track congenital heart defects beyond early childhood, more precise estimates are not available.
• For many forms of CHD, surgery is not a cure. Congenital heart disease is a lifelong condition requiring specialized care, and often additional surgeries and medications are needed later in life. Most causes of congenital heart defects are unknown.
#CHDWarrior #CHDSurvivor #CHDAwareness #CHDAware #1in110 #RockYourScar #RockYourScar2022 #CPWarrior #CPSurvivor #CPAwareness #CPAware #talktools #talktoolstherapy #speech #speechtherapy #feeding #feedingtherapy
Thank you,
Tara Vitale
Marketing Manager @ TalkTools®
*CHD Facts from the Congenital Heart Public Health Consortium www.chphc.org.
In this family, no one fights alone!
Carl, Tara & Lorenzo Vitale
Uncle Jason, Evan, Jase & Aunt Kimberly Novey
Uncle Paul, Olivia, Leo & Aunt Stephanie Vitale
My Mom, Pamela Bardelli (aka Nonnie)