11 Feb CHD Awareness Week – Day 4
On day 5, we finally started to see Keegan move his little hands and feet and were waiting anxiously for his eyes to open. Our biggest concerns were his kidneys, his lungs, and his brain. Keegan was officially listed as a status 1A on the transplant waiting list, although at the time we hoped it was precautionary. If his kidneys did not recover, his lungs continued to leak, or his brain continued to bleed, that last hope of transplant would be gone. The waiting seemed endless. Like we were lost in a time warp with days and nights that bled into each other. Our previous lives seemed so far away, and our future completely uncertain. I remember sitting on the hospital bridge overlooking the freeway with my dad early that morning, watching the cars sped by on their way to start another day. I realized for the first time that a congenital heart defect had changed my life forever. No matter what happened from here on out, things would never ever be the same.
We were not and are not alone in that living nightmare. For the families of one out of every 100 babies born this year, it will be their reality. For some of those, the nightmare will never end; their child will lose the battle with a congenital heart defect. We thank God for every day we wake with Keegan by our sides, and we pray for the comfort and healing of every parent who does not.