medical issues

The Faces of CHD – Pinterest Awareness Challenge

January 25, 2012 By Ruth H. 32 Comments

As many of you know, I am the mother of two little girls born with congenital heart defects, known here as Superkid and Lily. I’m also an avid Pinterest pinner–I love collecting ideas and inspiration via Pinterest.

Those two elements of my life had absolutely nothing in common…until today! With your help, I’d like to help promote awareness of and advocacy for children (and adults) with congenital heart defects by founding a Pinterest board devoted to sharing the stories of families affect by the #1 Birth Defect. The board is titled, “The Faces of CHD – Congenital Heart Awareness Week Feb 7-12, 2012.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Postcards from Holland, The Faces of CHD Tagged With: artificial heart valve, CHD, congenital heart defect, Lily, medical issues, Pinterest, Superkid

Ordinary Days

December 1, 2011 By Ruth H. 1 Comment

I’m very sad that I’m down to something like one post a week on this little blog ‘o mine. Sorry! I’m not even going to promise to do better, because things have been a little crazy at our house.

The good news:

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. Loved having family (Uncle Dustin and his A Team) with us. My nieces are adorable, and we were sorely tempted to let their parents leave them behind.
I’m determined to post pictures of the pies I made for Thanksgiving dinner, because I’m that proud of them. Stay tuned.
Christmas shopping is DONE–at least for my children. Still working on a few things for the extended family. But I’m feeling good about it. I’ve got momentum. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Postcards from Holland Tagged With: CHD, children, Christmas, medical issues, pneumonia, Superkid, Thanksgiving

Adventures with Superkid

September 22, 2011 By Ruth H. 4 Comments

Here’s the report on yesterday’s trip to the children’s hospital: Superkid was a superstar!

If I haven’t told you before, you need to know that Superkid considers all trips to our children’s hospital–for any reason–to be primarily a social outing. Any procedure or examination that the trip entails is secondary to the opportunities for social networking and the gathering of prizes, as far as Superkid is concerned. A true performance artist, Superkid also feels that every person encountered at the hospital is a fresh audience ready to be delighted with her medical history, family history, favorite songs, new vocabularly words, and dance moves.

I don’t know where she gets that. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Holland Has Hospitals, Postcards from Holland Tagged With: artificial heart valve, bravery, child life program, child life specialist, children, children's hospital, hard things, medical issues, nosebleeds, Riley hospital, Superkid

A Visit from The Nutmegger

September 21, 2011 By Ruth H. Leave a Comment

I’m delighted to welcome my dear friend Erica (a.k.a. Nutmegger)to Holland, today! She took me up on my plea for blog posts instead of casseroles. Thank you, Erica! I met Erica way back when we were both learning how to be wives and mothers. She was (and continues to be) a wonderful example to me of a woman who never stops learning. A talented violinist, Erica left behind a academic and performing career to focus on a role that doesn’t necessarily earn her the kind of applause she once received. She is now a mother of five beautiful children.

One of my many memories of Erica is of driving up at her house in a panic, handing her my two toddlers and trying to explain with a shaking voice that baby Superkid was in heart failure and I had to get to the hospital with her NOW. Erica hugged me, told me to drive as fast as I could, and said not to worry about Endeavor and Justone–she’d take care of them. I believe that run to the hospital turned into an ambulance ride to an out-of-state hospital, and I didn’t see Endeavor and Justone for a week. They were mothered in my absence by Erica and other dear, sweet friends until I could bring Superkid home from the hospital. Thank you, Erica, for being that kind of friend!

Erica is about to reveal what the contents of a woman’s purse say about her….take it away, Erica! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Postcards from Holland Tagged With: CHD, congenital heart defect, friends, hospital, medical issues, nosebleeds, Superkid

When Good Organs Go Bad

September 16, 2011 By Ruth H. 1 Comment

Hello, friends! First off, if the title of this post has you worried, it is NOT about Superkid. No, no, the organ I’m referring to is far more dispensable than the heart. {Sigh of relief.}

I haven’t been writing much this week, and I wish I could say it’s because I’ve been busy painting. Or because Bionic Man and I jetted off to Hawaii. Or because I have been working hard outside in the yard.

None of the above, unfortunately. Something much less fun has been keeping me away from the ole’ blog.

Fact is, it has taken three trips to three different doctors, an overnight stay in the ER, various lab tests, and a CT scan to find out that my uterus is trying to kill me. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Holland Has Hospitals, Postcards from Holland Tagged With: Bionic Man, guest blogger request, medical issues

Healthy Superkid Update

September 1, 2011 By Ruth H. 1 Comment

I have not found much time for blogging this last week, and I’m afraid that’s going to be the case until sometime next week. I somehow think I’m going to have all this extra time when school starts, but I think the reality is that I spend the morning recovering from getting everyone out the door, and the afternoon gearing up for everyone coming back through the door. Once they arrive, then the action and noise involved makes up tenfold for what wasn’t there during the day. School totally wears Hunter the Dog and I out, I’ll tell you that much.

Anywho, it’s late, and I’ve got lots to do tomorrow, so this has to be quick. I just wanted to share the good news that Superkid’s cardiology appointment last week went really, really well. It was her first cardiology visit in over a year, and her heart looked so good that they told us not to come back again for another year! That, my friends, is quite a record for us. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Holland Has Hospitals, Postcards from Holland Tagged With: artificial heart valve, cardiologist, cardiology, CHD, children, congenital heart defect, coumadin, Hunter the Dog, medical issues, miracles, nosebleeds, pediatric patient on blood thinner, Riley hospital, Superkid

Every Heart Has a Story Event

August 15, 2011 By Ruth H. 9 Comments

Today I sent my three children off to school. Hunter the dog and I waved good bye as the school bus drove away (well, I waved, and Hunter looked downtrodden–he’s not a fan of those big yellow monsters that take his peeps away) and then we went for a run. I took a leisurely shower, after which I let my good friend Nicole in the house. She’d just dropped off her youngest at kindergarten, and needed some chat therapy. (I love it when I can provide a service and do my own dishes at the same time.) And now I’m sitting down to the computer, about to update someone else’s blog widgets and write some articles and be a productive, wage-earning member of society.

I know, my life is just one thrill after another. But I like it that way–I’ve come to appreciate the magic of ordinary days.

Every once in a while I like to take a break from the glue guns and spray paint and the “fluff” of my life that I generally write about here, and revisit the topics that started my blog. Last year, I wrote something to explain that, and I want to re-post part of that blog entry, today. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Holland Has Hospitals, Postcards from Holland Tagged With: CHD, congenital heart defect, Every Heart Has a Story, family, forever families, gratitude, grief/loss, hope, Lily, loss of a child, medical issues, mitochondrial disease, school, Superkid