Well, ChloeJace's heart surgery went well! That is the reason I haven't written in awhile. Make the 3hour drive across the great state of Ohio with 2 kids takes a lot out of you! ChloeJace started school like everyone this fall. In fact by the time she started you would not know she had the ICD/Pacemaker put in just 2 weeks earlier. She was a bit tired the first couple of days, but what kid isn't? I still need some more time before I go over that day with you. It was emotionally and mentally draining. But well worth it! And our EP (electrophysiologist) Dr. Clark was great! As of now she has not used the implanted device! Praise God!
Just a few weeks after surgery ChloeJace was able to ride a bike again! Something that she had not be allowed to do in years. She rides a lot now, she is learning the no hands trick! Just the other night she was in her p.j's outside riding her bike! She is also in band now, she wanted to play belles (percussion). She is also in bowling and starts girl scouts this coming week. None of these she was able to do before unless she was transported separately and I stood over her with an AED!
Sad to say since she got her ICD there has been a girl pass from sudden cardiac arrest (in CA) and another live to get an ICD (texas). Here is the thing they both happened at school! The girl that live had an AED on her in seconds, not 10 min. later. If your school has an AED in the office locked, if a student collapses on the football field how long does it take to find someone that has a key and run up to get the AED and run back? What if only office staff have the key? I can't imagine help being so close but out of reach and a child dying! Can you? Does your school have an AED? Don't you think CPR should be a life skill? If you have children it should be! So why are we pretending our children aren't dying! Because we don't want to change, we don't want to spend the money on an AED?
Actually Jennifer, I find the reasoning to be more out of fear and ignorance. The person who is making the decision does not want to be responsible to use the AED. They think that they will be liable if something goes wrong. Of course, that rationale allows the unthinkable to go wrong. The office where I work didn't want to buy one even though they had identified three co-workers who would benefit by having one in the building. Nobody wanted to be responsible for it. They have one now, but if I needed it someone would have to call the building emergency number and the occupational nurse would have to bring it to my floor to use it. The buildings are so large that it could easily take 10 minutes to get it here. But you know, having one is progress. I'm glad to hear that CholeJace is now protected and can go about her normal life.
ReplyDelete