Little Heart Family: Mended Hearts at the Capitol

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Mended Hearts at the Capitol

Today was our Mended Little Hearts annual trip to the Capitol to meet with the governor. Every year during this week, Governor Henry signs a proclamation declaring this to be the official Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week in Oklahoma. Although we only get a minute of his time, the kids really enjoy shaking hands and having their picture taken with the governor. Clayton and I went last year and were able to meet some really nice families, so I wanted to make sure we went again this year.

A few of the kids with one of the pediatric cardiologists waiting for Governor Henry. All these children have had at least one open heart surgery. The older girl and the little girl in the pink dress both have HLHS, like Clayton.

Clayton and Mama

Very tired kiddos after the proclamation signing

1 comment:

AnonymousFebruary 18, 2009 at 11:29 PM
These pictures are of some amazing kids...much stronger than I could ever be! God Bless all of them...
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Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

From http://www.mayoclinic.org/hlhs/

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is an abnormality in which the left side of the heart (left ventricle, aortic valve and aorta) is severely underdeveloped. The condition is congenital (present at birth).

When the left-side heart structures are underdeveloped, the right side of the heart must pump blood to both the lungs and to the rest of the body. In the womb, a baby's body receives oxygen-rich blood through a communication (connection) called the patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). After birth, the PDA spontaneously begins to close. An undeveloped heart cannot pump efficiently enough to support life and that is when a baby with HLHS gets very sick. Without treatment, the defect is usually fatal within the first several days of life.