Dana Henning is mother to Evan Henning, who is a 12-year-old Heart Warrior born with a critical congenital heart defect. Evan has has multiple procedures and open-heart surgeries. His life is very full of therapy appointments, homeschool activities, and extra-curricular activities such as Special Olympics and track. Dana is musically gifted. She is a former music teacher and choir director. These days she homeschools Evan and works as the Mended Little Hearts Austin Coordinator. She also...

Today's episode features Vicky Gooden, the author of My Wonder Line and the winner of the 2022 Baby Hearts Press People’s Choice Award. In this episode, we will hear about how Vicky came to write her book, what it meant to her to win the BHP People’s Choice Award, and what the future holds for this very special author and her book. Vicky Gooden is a senior consumer marketing professional with a career spanning over 18 years. She spent 15 years in the creative entertainment industries, working...

Welcome to the 4th and final Medical Monday mini-series episode of Heart to Heart with Anna for Heart Month, February 2023. How can you do heart surgery through a hole in the groin? It seems like magic, but is it? What is a Maze Procedure? Why might someone need a pacemaker, even if they've had an ablation? How can heart valves be replaced via catheterization? Tune in to hear certified, registered nurse anesthetist, Frank Jaworski, explain how these heart surgeries can occur, what kinds of...

This is the final Heart Dad Sunday mini-series episode for Heart Month, February 2023. Frank Jaworski, Anna Jaworski's husband, and Heart Dad to a single ventricle heart warrior is back as the Guest Host. In this episode he interviews Dan Rodenbaugh. Dan is father to Caylee Rodenbaugh, who was born on June 26, 2009, at St. Luke’s hospital in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Caylee is his fourth daughter, but the first one with a heart condition. Dan Rodenbaugh is 52 years of age and he’s been happily...

This is our final episode for our Saturday Success Stories mini-series for Heart Month, February 2023, and it's hard to imagine any greater success story than the 40 Heart Warriors who have come together to create an amazing anthology called The Heart of a Heart Warrior: Congenital Heart Defect Stories of Hope. This is the book that these Heart Warriors and their families and friends would have loved to have read to help them better understand what it means to live a life with a broken...

With congenital heart defects being the #1 birth defect around the globe, there are many people touched by this condition. At least 1% of the population is born with a heart defect. Many of them will be innocent murmurs that will close up on their own. But some people have more serious heart conditions. In this special mini-series episode for Heart Month 2023, Anna asks her Listeners to identify some famous movies which depict someone with a congenital heart condition (CHC).  Since...

Welcome to the 4th CHD Spotlight episode for Heart Month 2023. Our Expert Guest is HUG MAB member, Chris Donald.  Chris Donald is a pediatric cardiology nurse and she was born with a complex congenital heart defect. Chris Donald also serves on the Hearts Unite the Globe Medical Board. Today's CHD Spotlight is on a type of heart defect commonly referred to as “TGA” or “TGV” -- transposition of the great arteries or transposition of the great vessels -- which are synonyms. We'll also learn...

Here is another episode in our Wednesday Writer Chat series of “Heart to Heart with Anna.” This is a special mini-series produced for Heart Month, February 2023. Today’s show is Beauty Queen Author and our Guest is Faith Brackett. We’ll start today’s program by learning a bit about Faith and her health condition in Segment 1. In the second segment, we’ll talk about how Faith came to write a book and in the final segment, we’ll talk about how Tablet Talk and how Faith and her sister are...

How can one mom make a difference when it comes to children born with special needs? What kind of comfort and support is available to children living with a range of illnesses and disabilities? How can you get involved in helping our most vulnerable children feel supported? Lilac Lumpkin is a mom to angel Heart Warrior Jaxon, who was born with HLHS. Jaxon loved many things in his life: pizza, superheroes, mac & cheese, and his mom. He never complained and never gave up. Jaxon lived to 5...

This is the 3rd episode in our Medical Monday mini-series for Heart Month, February 2023.    What pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon seemed "too Hollywood"? Why? What is cross circulation and what was this experimental technique the predecessor of?    This Medical Monday episode deals with an amazing experimental surgical technique developed by Dr. C. Walton Lillehei. Frank and Anna Jaworski talk about what they learned about this procedure in the book King of Hearts by Rhode Island writer, G....

Here is another Heart Dad Sunday episode for Heart Month, February 2023. Like the other two episodes, this episode also features Heart Dad Frank Jaworski as the Guest Host. Today's Guest is Carl Wolford. Carl Wolford was born with total anomalous pulmonary venous return or TAPVR and had surgery by Dr. Denton Cooley at 4 months of age in January 1958 at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. Carl was Dr. Cooley’s second successful case of this heart defect and the first one is now...

Why would a pair of teen sisters be interested in working with the American Heart Association? How can these sisters make a difference? How much money do these young ladies plan to raise and how can you get involved? This is the 2nd Saturday Success Story in our Heart Month 2023 mini-series! This features two sisters who have been impacted by congenital heart defects. My Loyal Listeners will remember when I interviewed their mother, Jessica Gutierrez-Rodriguez in Season 6 (Seizing the Day...

With congenital heart defects being the #1 birth defect around the globe, there are many people touched by this condition. At least 1% of the population is born with a heart defect. Many of them will be innocent murmurs that will close up on their own. But some people have more serious heart conditions. In this special mini-series episode for Heart Month 2023, Anna asks her Listeners to identify some famous musicians who have been touched by CHDs.  So many people think that if they have a...

This is the 3rd episode in our CHD Spotlight mini-series and we'll be talking about Tetralogy of Fallot. Our expert Guest is Roslyn Rivera and she is a pediatric cardiology nurse who was also born with a congenital heart defect. In this episode, Roslyn shares with Anna what tetralogy of Fallot is, who coined the term for this complex congenital heart condition, what methods are used to palliate the condition, what some possible causes of the condition are, and survival rates for babies born...

This is another episode in our Wednesday Writer Chat mini-series of Heart to Heart with Anna for Heart Month, February 2023. We’ll start today’s program by learning a bit about Maggie and her daughter’s health condition in Segment 1. In the second segment, we’ll talk about how Maggie came to write her book for the CHD community and in the final segment we’ll get some advice from Maggie and learn what her plans are for the future. Maggie Schmeider is an author and a self-proclaimed dabbler!...

What are some special considerations that need to be made for the mental health of someone born with a cardiac condition? Why should there be a book specifically for understanding the mental and emotional development of people born with critical congenital heart conditions requiring multiple open-heart surgeries?  What makes counselors, born with congenital cardiac conditions themselves, the perfect people to write such a book? Tracy Livecchi received her Master’s Degree in Social Work from...

This is the second episode in our Heart Month 2023 Medical Monday series. In last week's Wednesday Writer Chat, Anna talked to author Richard Schwindt about his life and he was born in the 1950s with a congenital heart condition. He informed Anna that monkey lungs helped to keep him alive through one of his surgeries.  Curious about what procedure would utilize monkey lungs, Anna did some research and found an article in the December 2021 journal Perfusion Theory and she shared it with her...

Why would a heart dad decide to host a podcast? Why would he write a book for the congenital heart defect community? What has this dad learned from having a child with a heart defect? Tom and Kat Hansen are parents to Audrey and Harding. In 2014, Harding was diagnosed with multiple congenital heart defects in utero, for which he has undergone three open-heart surgeries and multiple other procedures. Inspired by their journey with Harding, Tom and his wife wrote a book and then they...

How safe is it for a woman born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome to get pregnant and carry a baby to term? What considerations need to be made when Heart Warriors with complex CHDs decide to get pregnant? What advice does a Heart Warrior Mom have for others considering having a baby? Katelynn Scoggins was born with a critical congenital heart defect known as hypoplastic right heart syndrome. Unlike many people born with HRHS, she has not had the Fontan Procedure. She has done very well...

With congenital heart defects being the #1 birth defect around the globe, there are many people touched by this condition. At least 1% of the population is born with a heart defect. Many of them will be innocent murmurs that will close up on their own. But some people have more serious heart conditions. In this special mini-series episode for Heart Month 2023, Anna asks her Listeners to identify some famous athletes who have been touched by CHDs.  So many people think that if they have a...

In our second CHD Spotlight episode, we'll discuss holes in the heart—atrial septal defects (ASDs), ventricular septal defects (VSDs) and more! Today's CHD Spotlight is on the most common type of heart defect commonly referred to as "holes in the heart." This episode features Dr. William Novick—an internationally-known cardiothoracic surgeon and the head of the Novick Cardiac Alliance, a nonprofit organization providing life-saving heart surgeries to children around the world. In this...

Are congenital heart defects hereditary? How might someone born with a hole in his heart choose to live his life? Why might a social worker choose to write a book to help the congenital heart defect community? This is our 2nd Wednesday Writer Chat--a special mini-series during Heart Month, February 2023. Today’s show is "Social Worker, Heart Warrior Author" and our Guest is Richard Schwindt. We’ll start today’s program by learning a bit about Richard and his family in Segment 1. In the...

Is it possible to have a baby if you are a woman who was born with HLHS? What problems can occur when a person with a single ventricle heart becomes pregnant? What advice would a Heart Warrior offer others trying to have a baby?  Meghan Roswick-Didier is 30 years old and was diagnosed with HLHS at 7 days of age. She had four open-heart surgeries at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia including the Norwood at nine days old, the hemi-Fontan at seven months old, the Fontan at 13 months old...

Is it possible there could actually be a cure for congenital heart defects? If so, what might that cure look like? Who would be responsible for creating such a cure? Welcome to our first Medical Monday mini-series for Heart Month 2023. In this episode, you'll revisit HeartWorks, a very special company that is changing the face of treatment for those born with single ventricle hearts, especially hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Dr. Timothy Nelson is the director of the Todd and Karen Wanek...

How can a child help her father recover from heart transplant surgery? How important is it for parents to allow their children to be part of the recovery process? What advice does a heart transplant recipient have for others facing being listed for transplant when they are the parents of a young child? This is the first Heart Dad Sunday episode for February 2023 and Frank Jaworski is our Guest Host. Paul Cardall was born in 1973 with only half a heart. He had his first surgery a few hours...