some-crazy-lady:micdotcom:Jimmy Kimmel makes an emotional and tearful plea for Obamacare after near
some-crazy-lady:micdotcom:Jimmy Kimmel makes an emotional and tearful plea for Obamacare after near death of newborn sonAs the parent of a child that recently received a heart transplant, I just want to say the following: I am heartbroken that Jimmy Kimmel has had to become a member of this club that no one wants to be in–a CHD parent. He was very brave, raw, and honest and I am so very glad that he brought so much awareness to this little-known defect that affects so many babies (1 in 100). I do feel the need to add this, since the majority of folks in the United States are not aware of what CHD’s truly mean:Jimmy’s son’s story is, for the CHD world, extremely positive and heart warming. In the end, his son only spent one week in the hospital which is wonderful. I am very happy his son seems to have recovered with flying colors. With that being said, I do not want the populous of the United States that heard this story… to think that this is how all CHD journeys go. CHD can get worse, much worse. Jimmy Kimmel knows this, as he became choked up when asking for prayers for the other families in the hospital. CHD can keep babies in the hospital for YEARS. It can render them unable to walk, speak, eat, breathe, and can even render some severely mentally challenged… forever. CHD can cause terrible medical emergencies such as brain bleeds, clots, cardiac arrest, organ failure, necrosis, and so much more. In my 7 months of living in an intensive care unit with my son… I have seen some awful things. I have seen a surgeon frantically tell a nurse to ‘get the parents in here’ to say goodbye, forever, after working emergently on their baby for hours, right in his hospital room. I have seen a family filled with hope at the news that their baby received a heart, only to see their hearts break when they learned the new heart did not work… And never would. I have seen chest compressions and a defibrillator used on a newborn baby across the hall. Through a curtain, I saw a mother hold her dead baby, for hours, in complete darkness. I saw two parents break down in the hall as their child was literally run down to the OR to try and stop a massive internal bleed. I have heard phone conversations in the middle of the night that tearfully start with “are you sitting down…” I have heard the shrill, piercing code blue alarm go off, more times than I can count, and have seen the nurses and doctors with crash carts sprinting by. These are the families Jimmy Kimmel is remembering as he tells the audience to keep them in their thoughts and prayers. We are one of these families! The reason I am making such a long post about this is because CHD needs to become he household name that CANCER already is! I truly hope that Jimmy Kimmel can use his fame to help shine the spotlight on CHD and give it the awareness it so desperately needs. His monologue the other night was a huge first step and I could never thank him enough! I also hope his son will continue to thrive! -- source link