What I Hate About CHD

I don't like to use the word "hate" but I can honestly say that in the words of the Grinch, the way I feel about CHD is "hate, hate, hate. Double Hate! LOATHE ENTIRELY"

Having a child with CHD is life-altering, life-threatening, and emotionally draining.

There are many reasons why I hate CHD but the thing I hate the most is the loss of innocent life. Each year approximately 40,000 babies are born in the United States with a congenital heart defect. Thousands of them will not reach their first birthday and thousands more die before they reach adulthood.

I also hate the fact that more than 50% of all children born with CHD will require at least one invasive surgery in their lifetime.

I HATE that Stella had to undergo two open heart surgeries and countless other                         surgeries.

I HATE that Stella had to spend over 3 months of her infant life in a hospital bed and I HATE that for over a full month of that time we were only able to hold her hand.

I HATE that so many parents have to cope with the loss of their child because of CHD and I HATE that CHD came so close to taking Stella away from us. 

I HATE that Stella had to be on ECMO and have a machine function as her heart and lungs and I HATE that we were given the choice as parents to either let our child die or put her on ECMO in a last-ditch effort to hopefully save her (with a 1-2% chance of succeeding)

I HATE that CHD caused Stella to go into right-heart failure and lose oxygen to her brain resulting in Cerebral Palsy. 

I HATE that CHD is preventing Stella from living a "normal" life and I HATE that CHD has completely taken over our lives. 

CHD is a lifelong disease that has a life-changing effect on not only the patient but everyone around them. I usually try to be very optimistic about every aspect of our journey and as much as I HATE CHD, it has also brought the biggest blessing into our lives. Tomorrow I'll be writing about the things I actually "love" about CHD (it's not that I love CHD but I am actually thankful for the blessings it has provided).