Everyone always jokes with doctors, “What happens if you get sick?” Some of us laugh off the question. The busy schedule of health care often means our own health comes last. However, what happens when it’s a chronic disease that requires treatment? Then the answer to this question is a little different.
I am a family medicine physician dealing with congenital heart disease (CHD). Saying that someone has congenital heart disease is a broad statement. CHD affects 40,000 babies born each year, but the severity and complications have a broad range. Some infants may only have a small hole between the two ventricles; other infants can have entire parts of their heart missing.
I happen to fall into the second category. I was born with right ventricular hypoplasia, which means my right ventricle is just a small flap unable to pump blood adequately. The diagnosis of CHD for me meant multiple surgeries in my infancy followed by a lifetime of “being careful.”
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