What are you thankful for?
Page 1
"What makes you angry about growing up and having a heart condition"?
"What makes you happy about growing up and having a heart condition"?
Please note that the following represent each family's individual experiences and beliefs. Every family is different, and the needs and feelings of the children involved will be unique. We encourage you to seek professional advice if you have concerns or questions with regard to these issues.
Responses to Family Room
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What makes you angry about growing up and having a heart condition?
To keep it short... not having friends with CHD when I was a child... it would have made such a difference in my life - I'm certain of it. I don't mind, nor have I ever minded, having CHD... but it's been really LONELY, LONELY, LONELY with it.... BUT now I have this group and I'm feeling so much better about myself... not so lonely, not so different... not so isolated. Oh, and I'd love to have been able to ride a bike and ice skate and swim and run... but, oh, well, you can't have everything you want in life... I can walk in the rain (which I love doing) and I've learned that I can reach out and love and care about others...
What makes you happy about growing up and having a heart condition?
People. Especially the people I've met because of the different situations I've had to be in due to the CHD... some great medical people with kind hearts and wise thoughts... my deep faith in God, for without it, I wouldn't be here... learning courage and kindness at a young age... being an observer of life and people... love that one because people are so darned interesting and life is so darned weird!!! Or maybe it's because the people are weird and life is interesting..... hmmmmm, will have to give that one some thought!!! And, most important of all, YOU on this group! I don't know how I could express to each of you how much of an encouragement you are to me... I really care about you and pray for you... just keep on, keeping on!
R.L.
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What makes you angry about growing up and having a heart condition?
I would say that I have never really been angry about my heart condition. I have been offended at people's reaction when they found out but never really angry. To me, anger is such a harsh word and there are enough harsh things in this world already with out me adding to it. I am pretty much a mellow person and try to accept things as they are. The only thing I can really say is that it hurts me when people cannot accept me as i am.
What makes you happy about growing up and having a heart condition?
My heart condition has allowed me to do things I probably would never have done if I had been normal. Since friends and relatives are nice to "the heart kid" for example, I have been able to do some amazing things including flying a helicopter and a small plane. I probably can still fly a small plane, when my brother buys one, but I feel that flying the helicopter was very special. My brother was upset that he didn't get the chance.
My heart condition has also taught me the important things in life.Love, family, friendship, etc. It has taught me not to get bent out of shape (mad) at every little problem or circumstance. I have learned to enjoy everything in life: sometimes even the not so good events can be enjoyed if you look on the positive side. Most of my friends while growing up were friends of my parents. I usually hung around with the older people because I couldn't always keep up with the other kids. I feel that in certain ways I matured earlier than my brothers did. I also feel that I have always had a more positive outlook on life than most people. I hear people complain all the time over trivial things. When they ask me why I am so happy all the time, I say,"Well, it beats the hell out of open heart surgery!". That usually gets them thinking. People spend too much time worrying about the little things that they don't enjoy the beauty around them. They dont realize just how fortunate they are just to be here.
M.E.
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| What makes you angry about growing up and having a heart condition?
I am a little different from most of the rest of you in that I have Congestive Heart Disease which did not come about until during grade school. But I did notice after that I did not have the stamina of other kids my age. I could run the 50 yard dash in Jr. High/High School and get ribbons in it but anything any longer than that and I just about always came in with the last group of people running. Playing Basketball during Jr. High was something else. I would not last for a whole period of play but I stuck with it for one season. I was pretty good at baseball if I did not have to run more than to 2nd base or could hit a home run and walk/saunter around. I played football pretty well, but could not play for very long at one time. I wrestled for one season in high school and did pretty well at that but I think that was because I was so big.
I also did not like being told to take it easy and slow down . My parents thought that over- doing it was the cause of my getting Rheumatic Fever 3 years in a row during grade school.. I think they realized that it was caused by some kind of strep infection but I think they thought it was more because of every thing I tried to be doing at the time that it occurred. (Little league baseball, and any other thing the other kids were doing at that time) I think because of my size people expected a lot out of me (I weighed 10 1/2 lbs at birth and have been at least 220 lbs. and 6' 1" since the first part of 7th grade)
What makes you happy about growing up and having a heart condition?
It has made me want to read everything I can get my hands on. And do a lot of the quiet things that I would have never done otherwise. This is probably why my hobby is computers and software and has a lot to do with why I have the job I do right now (Procurement Engineer at a Nuclear Power Station).
R.C.
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What makes you angry about growing up and having a heart condition?
I'm not sure if I've ever really been angry about being born with TGA, I guess I just accepted the fact that my heart "worked" differently than everyone else's. I did feel left out at times in school, because there were things I couldn't do like go on hiking trips or play sports with my friends. It's worse than being the last kid chosen for a game, because you know that your not even an option for any team.
Elementary school was difficult because kids pick friends who can play with them and do things. I was so small compared to the rest of my class, and could never play anything that involved running, which includes pretty much every game played at recess. But by the time I was in high school I was able to show my non athletic talents and won awards for my writing, art and organization. Over time my classmates seemed to forget that I was the little girl who couldn't play kickball.
I also get angry at doctors sometimes, because I receive different information all the time. I really can't blame the doctors since this is a relatively new field. The one thing that bothered me the most was being told not to have children because of my condition. I always follow what my doctor orders, but although I was advised not to become pregnant, I did and am due in 9 days. My pregnancy has been pretty great with no heart related problems. This is one time I'm so glad I didn't follow my doctor's advice.
What makes you happy about growing up and having a heart condition?
I think that being born with CHD has made me more aware of the world around me than other people my age. I always thought and planned for a future. I knew what I wanted and always was able to achieve my goals (which were always realistic). I also never took anything for granted, like what I was good at or what I could do. Sometimes I think that I take life and what I can control a little too seriously, but since I couldn't control my heart condition, I did what I could to control the other aspects of my life. I think that has given me strength and has helped me greatly in school, college and at my job.
L.A.
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