Just 2 weeks after he was born, my cousin, Andy Hernandez Jr., had to have his first surgery on his heart. But with his condition, that wouldn’t be his last. Years passing by and still having to go to the hospital. Check ups and surgeries would be his life, for now. For a long time, Andy wasn’t able to be a "normal kid." Going to the hospital was where he spent a "1/3 of his life," his mom, Melinda Hernandez, said. They were constantly traveling to the nearest children's hospital which was 4 hours away, until they finally decided to move closer, to be on the waiting list for a new heart. Andy was telling me about his life at the hospital. "Its annoying," smiling as he says it, "there's always people walking in and out of room. Nurses and doctors, always around me." Its tough being in a hospital for so long. There's no way to be a kid when all you can hear is the …show more content…
It’s a birth defect which affects the normal blood flow to the heart. As the baby is in the whom, developing, the left side of the heart doesn’t form correctly. " It wasn’t very often then but they’re seeing it with more people who live in Mexico or live by the border," Melinda explains to me. I asked Andy what the hardest thing about dealing with his condition," The hospital. Always being in a room and not being able to do anything." Luckily, he's now able to enjoy some of the things that couldn’t do like play baseball, basketball, ride his go-cart or go hunting. But for his parents, knowing that their only child would be sick for the rest of his life was difficult. "I was shocked when they told me that he had HLHS. No body knew till the day after that he had it." Melinda explains. Being told that their child wouldn’t live for very long, they were devastated. But with great faith, they didn’t give up on the doctors or God. He's now 13 years old and living. Everyday they are blessed to see Andy waking up in the
Andy’s questionable decisions contributed to his untimely death. One of those decisions was when Andy decided to join the Royals gang and wear the jacket that symbolized his loyalty to the gang. Andy eventually realized that he was stabbed because he was apart of that gang. Who had a rival gang called The Guardians. While Andy was bleeding he thought to himself: “Had they stabbed him, Andy, or had they only stabbed the jacket and the title, and what good was the title if you were dying?”(Hunter 38). This contributed to his death because if he hadn’t joined the gang in the first place he wouldn’t have been recognized as a Royal. He also wouldn’t have been stabbed because he was just Andy and none knew him to be a Royal. Another arguable decision
On the 14th day, Josie didn’t need gauze anymore and everyone was preparing for her return home. Unfortunately, after one of the nurses gave Josie a shot of methadone, King was forced to watch her daughter experience a cardiac arrest and pass away.
I went to the appointment on that Monday, and being a bigger hospital, I was even more terrified. We checked in, and luckily found a spot to sit in one of the waiting room. The room wasn’t filled with sadness or negativity, it was somehow filled with laughter. There were many children, therefore some of the parents had brought coloring book for them. I just wanted to know what these children were at the hospital for. They seemed to be the most charming children ever, and I just couldn’t understand why whatever they're going through was happening to them. My parents had left to buy coffee,
Condition where the left side of the heart is unable to pump an adequate amount of blood to the body, and can be life-threatening.
According to, this quote “So I know Andy was afraid. His soul is probably still out there somewhere—floating in the darkness, looking for hope, hoping for forgiveness, and terribly, terribly frightened.” Andy’s friends and his family knew exactly how Andy
Left-sided heart failure is a life-threatening condition in which the left side of the heart cannot pump enough blood throughout the body (Left-sided heart failure, 2014). This is a very dangerous condition. If left untreated, it can lead to more problems, even death.
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome is a heart condition that affects the blood flow to the heart. It also can be where you are born with a hole in the wall that divides the upper chambers of the heart. The hole can vary in sizes. It can be big enough to require surgery or it can be small enough to heal on it’s own. As the baby grows inside the mother's stomach there are more holes at the time then when the baby is born. Usually all the holes close. Sometimes they don’t. This results in HLHS .The one little hole causes access blood to flow to the lungs and over time can harm the blood vessels in the lungs. There are other problems that can be caused by this. You can have increased heart rate and a better chance of a stroke. Some symptoms to look for if you think your baby might have Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome are Bluish skin, cold hands and feet, poor pulse, poor feeding, loud heart beat, breathing very quickly, and shortness of breathe. If his whole body is blue this is a guaranteed sign that the blood is not flowing correctly. If just his hands and feet are blue this means they could have problems or it
I am a NP currently working for a Hospital Medicine group in an inpatient setting. My primary job responsibilities are to admit patients into the hospital, round on patients, provide cross cover on the patients on our service, provide cross cover on inpatients who our group is consulted to see, respond to rapid response codes, and occasionally discharge patients.
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is treated through several surgical procedures or a heart transplant.The medication alprostadil helps to dilate the blood vessels and keeps the ductus arteriosus open. A partial septostomy creates or enlarges the opening between the atria to allow more blood flow from the right atrium to the left atrium if the foramen ovale closes. A baby with hypoplastic left heart syndrome will likely require the Norwood Procedure, which is when surgeons reconstruct the aorta and connect it directly to the heart's right ventricle. Surgeons insert a shunt that connects the aorta to the pulmonary arteries, or they place a shunt that connects the right ventricle to the pulmonary arteries. This procedure allows the right ventricle
After the occurrence of a heart attack, patients are typically put on pharmacological agents to help improve the heart’s now compromised condition and prevent the occurrence of another infarction. The two main categories of drugs used for this purpose are ACE inhibitors and ß- blockers. As previously stated, ACE is an enzyme that converts angiotensin I into angiotensin II. This can be problematic in the failing heart because of the effects of angiotensin II, specifically vasoconstriction and enhanced sympathetic activity (Jackson, et al., 2000). By inhibiting this enzyme, the constricted blood vessels are relaxed and blood pressure is lowered. This allows the heart to return to pumping
Cardiomyopathy is a long-term (chronic) disease of the heart muscle. The disease makes your heart muscle thick, weak, or stiff. As a result your heart has to work harder to pump blood. Over time cardiomyopathy can lead to heart failure.
Throughout the United States there are many illnesses and diseases, though there is only one disease that kills about six hundred ten thousand people yearly, heart disease. Six hundred ten thousand people yearly is the reason why heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, that is one in every four deaths. Seems like a serious and scary situation correct; if you knew about this information would you have done something sooner or begin doing something? An individual can do many changes in their lifestyle to prevent heart disease from developing in their body and the best way to make those changes is to act now.
One of the rarest of congenital cardiac defects is Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, HLHS. This syndrome is described as a collection of anomalies affecting the left heart and connecting structures. Due to advancements in surgical intervention mortality rates in neonates with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome have decreased. Management of these patients requires a symphony of multidisciplinary teams including fetal and pediatric cardiologist, cardiac surgeons, neonatologist, pulmonologist, nutritionist and family counselors. Options currently comprise of heart transplant, three-staged palliative surgery and comfort care. There may be co-morbidities present which further complicate treatment, but with surgical intervention the
Heart disease is the number 1 killer in the United States of America. It’s important to have a heart protection strategy, especially as you get older. It should include exercise and a healthy diet, plus supplements for heart health as needed. Know your cholesterol, blood pressure and ideal weight. Lower risk factors and prevent early disability, illness or even death from heart disease. And although you can't help heredity, you can certainly be aware of any risk factors that may have been passed down through your family tree. After following the steps in this assignments all of the supplements I would recommend along with the information I have given you here are proven to help in preventing heart health. Most can be safely taken in combination.
It discuss how hospitalization can be an unpleasant experience for children who is in a unfamiliar place. It has a huge effect because the hospitalization abruptly interrupts the child and family lives. All of the stress and fears get worse when it is a severe life threatening disease. They found one major way to reduce the stress and fears is to let children play. Children favorite thing to do is to play, and play can come in many different forms. Play is a form of communication and self-expression, which is also a part of child’s development. Not only can the family play with the child, so can the health professionals. Having some sort of play can actually be therapy for the ill