Meet Madelyn! She is sister of our other tiny light Dayton. Isn’t she an adorable little sweetheart? Yes I thought so. Her parents say she has the best smile in the world! Madelyn is a little trooper and has beaten all the odds so far for infants with her condition.
She has CHD (congential heart defect) Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Basically Madelyn was born with half a heart requiring a 3 stage open heart surgery procedure. She had her first surgery at 1 week old, her second done at 6 months old and will have the 3rd done between 3-4 yrs old. The hardest part so far for her parents is watching their tiny baby go through these major open heart surgeries and know that you can’t pick her up and cuddle her or take away the pain. It is heart wrenching, but she is such a strong little girl. But what amazes her parents is watching Mady grow and thrive through it all. Also getting to know and meet so many people in the CHD community has been a huge help for them as well. Knowing that there are others out there that they can talk to about this, that know what we are going through has at times helped them keep their sanity.
Mady will have a lifetime of taking daily medications, cardiologist appointments, heart echos and ecgs. She may require a heart transplant when she is a teenager. Her life will never be that of a normal child or teen or adult. But her parents promise to do our best to make it as normal as possible for her. Her parents hope is that she will grow up to be a pediatric cardiologist and help kids just like her. However whatever she decides to do in life we will support her and be proud of her.
Photo courtesy Melissa DePape Photography
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