7 ways CHD has changed my life

1. I discovered that I could do things I never thought I could. I was never interested in a career in any sort of human medical field. I decided that I could never poke another human being with a needle or do anything painful to them. I thought that I would feel too much sympathy for them and not be able to follow through. I was very wrong about that. When you have to do something to improve the health of your child you suck it up and do it.
   
2. You never know when or if things will change, so you learn to savor the here and now. Evan's stroke was a complete and utter shock. I thought that once he was out of the hospital after surgery that he was home free. As he gets further and further from his last surgery it is sometimes easy to get annoyed and frustrated wit how things are but then I go and look at old baby pictures of him using both hands and I remember that each day is a gift.
3. I have learned to balance my time better. I have become more conscious about the things that I fill our days with. It would be easy to be overwhelmed with therapy and doctor's appointments (which have lessened greatly, but were very pressing when he was younger). I combined when I could and tried to set things up so that there was time for Evan to just be a kid. I also keep Harry in mind so that he does not spend his day just tagging after his brother. It helps that Evan's therapists include Harry in as much as possible so that he is not left out.
4. I have met some really amazing doctors and wonderful nurses. There are a lot of caring people out there in the medical field. I am glad that I had a chance to meet them and learn from them. The attitudes they have really can make a huge difference in a trying time.
5. I am much more aware of others with children that have special needs.
   
6. I used to think that birth defects were devastating and horrible. They can be at times but it is hard to be sad when you have a happy smiling child who could really care less that he walks with a limp and has scars all over his chest. I know that as Evan gets older he will start to notice his differences but I think that I will worry about it more than he will since it is really all he knows.
7. I have become more willing to accept help from others. When Evan was born we were generally pretty seemingly self sufficient. One day after a hard day with Evan my mom called telling me to not be mad but she was going to fly out the next day to come be with us in the hospital. I had not really realized it until then but I really needed someone to be with me. My husband was like a caged tiger in the hospital and he had to work. The nurses were nice but they also had a job to do and that was primarily taking care of Evan and not me. I also started using my Visiting Teacher as a resource, something I had never had to do before. She was able to keep the ward members updated and do some little things for us that helped ease our burden. I now know that I don't have to do it all especially in times of crisis.