Notably, February 7 kicks off Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week — and at TalkTools, we have been blessed with our own little heart warrior: Lorenzo. Simply put, this is his story, updated and shared with love by his mom, Tara Ann Vitale, Marketing Manager at TalkTools.
CHD: What You Should Know
In fact, congenital heart conditions are the most common congenital disabilities in the United States. For this reason, the facts behind the awareness week matter:
*Therefore, CHD facts from the Congenital Heart Public Health Consortium remain vital: www.chphc.org
Lorenzo's Heart Journey
Essentially, Lorenzo was born on January 28, 2016 — and from the very beginning, he was wanted, loved, and filled with a fighting spirit that has never left him.
About 3–4 months into pregnancy, Tara and her husband Carl learned that Lorenzo might have complications in utero: fluid on the brain, possible spina bifida, holes in his heart, a small cerebellum, and a thin corpus callosum. Consequently, for first-time parents, it was overwhelming. However, Lorenzo arrived and was, in Tara's words, perfect.
Fortunately, he was born with small amounts of fluid on the brain that self-absorbed within 3 months. But the holes in his heart became a major concern. Specifically, Lorenzo had two large holes — an ASD and VSD — and at barely 2 months old, on April 6, 2016, the infant underwent open-heart surgery to have both repaired. Indeed, during surgery, the team discovered a third hole and repaired that too — resulting in a longer time on bypass than anticipated.
Lorenzo recovered amazingly. Moreover, within 6 days he was released from the PICU and was pretty normal. Importantly, we are grateful every single day.
Fast-forward to Christmas 2021 — eventually, we received a pretty awesome gift from MUSC Cardiology. Specifically, after a follow-up echocardiogram in December, they are no longer seeing the microscopic hole that was previously documented. Without a doubt, that small, leaking fluid that we had been monitoring for years — gone.
Tara Ann Vitale, Marketing Manager at TalkToolsA CHD and CP Warrior
Additionally, Lorenzo also lives with a mild case of Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy — a diagnosis that came with the territory of bypass and the challenges that followed. Moreover, Lorenzo is, by every measure, a warrior on multiple fronts.
Recently, the child celebrated his 6th birthday the week this post was published. Furthermore, the brave boy started kindergarten at Berkeley Preparatory Academy in August 2021 — in a "big boy school," as he calls it. Ultimately, Lorenzo has an incredible care team, an IEP with PT, OT, and SLP services, and teachers who loved him before school even started.
Remarkably, for more about Lorenzo's full journey with Cerebral Palsy, read Lorenzo's Journey with Cerebral Palsy: A Mother's Perspective.
Raising Awareness Together
Basically, most causes of congenital heart conditions are unknown. Therefore, 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. Consequently, raising awareness matters.
Thus, in this family, no one fights alone.