Every now and then I run across a remarkable congenital heart defects blog. Check out Living for Eden. This blog tells the story of Paul Cardall, an award-winning pianist, who was born with severe congenital heart defects (Large ASD, L-Tranposed AO, Single Ventricle, Single A-V Valve, Pulmonary Atresia).
Despite a variety of surgeries during his childhood, Paul’s heart began to fail when he was a young adult. One look at a photo of his beautiful wife and daughter, and clearly, he had no choice but to continue his fight. Sadly, while Paul waited for a donor heart, his brother died unexpectedly. His family experienced firsthand the painful emotions that come from being on the donor’s side of heart transplant surgery. Ninety days later, a donor heart came available for Paul.
As I read some of the posts on Living for Eden, I couldn’t help but reflect on the years when our family fretted over finding the right surgeon for Nathan. There is a temptation sometimes to hide in denial. Maybe he’ll be all right without surgery, I wanted to believe; so fearful that my boy might not make it through open heart surgery. Ultimately, I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I allowed his condition to go untreated. I remember specifically telling myself that I did not want to be responsible for Nathan struggling with heart failure at a young age because I didn’t have the guts to follow through with surgery.
Of course, it’s always helpful to have a spare brain in the house (Bryan!). If Nathan’s mom had flaked out, Nathan’s dad would have definitely taken the reins. Taking care of this in childhood will spare him the tragedy of heart failure as a young adult. Similarly, Paul Cardall’s family saw to it that he had the best surgical treatments available during his childhood. Unfortunately, that was not enough given the complexities of his heart defect. But, thanks to a kind soul’s decision to be an organ donor, Paul continues to enjoy life with those who love him.
Living for Eden! A great congenital heart defects blog! Know of another? Write me.
Tags: Congenital Heart Defects, congenital heart defects blog, heart, heart failure, heart transplant surgery, Nathan, open heart surgery, Paul Cardall
3 Comments on Congenital Heart Defects Blog
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This post brought a local family to mind. A congenital heart defect took the life of 20 year old Clayton DeFisher at a party on New Years Eve. Too sad that the general public saw it as an underage drinking party. Though Clayton had been drinking, it was said that he was not drunk. Sadly, few papers reported that his biological father had also died from the same heart problems. His family also needs prayer.
I’m glad Nathan was able to have surgery too.
My heart goes out to the DeFisher family. I wonder if Clayton’s family was unaware of his condition. It’s not uncommon for a congenital heart defect to go undiagnosed, only discovered after an episode or tragically, after a death.
The story is that they did know but I’m not sure what it was or how treatable. His younger brother does not have the defect.