Monthly Archives: November 2014

#GivingTuesday

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Click here to donate, today!

Give Time.
Give Money.
Give Hope.

Give Big

Give Time: Join our 1 Voice / 40,000 Strong Campaign

Give Money: Click here to donate, today!

PCHA works hard to empower patients.

Your support brings the patient voice to Washington D.C. through our upcoming Legislative Conference and ongoing advocacy activities as we work to support the 100’s of millions of dollars of research funding available to CHD.

Your donation is needed to help us bring transparency to patient care.  We are working with patients, parents and medical providers to create education and resources to help patients and parents make informed decisions about CHD care.

We have a lot planned for 2015 that needs your help!!

Patient Education – Our Transparency Project would like launch its “Questions” series.  Downloadable resources that provide tools for parents and patients to use to talk with their doctors and surgeons.  By the end of the year, we will provide additional robust data driven information on our website.

Physician Education – PCHA has been invited to participate in several upcoming medical conferences, presenting the imporatance of patient/family involvement and the need for transparency to truly accomplish this.

Research Funding – Our Legislative Conference kicks off a great year of advocacy.  We look forward to supporting research funding, looking at new policy opportunities and building legislative champions.  We will also be working hard to bring opportunities for all of our amazing advocates to get involved!!

Give Time: Join our 1 Voice / 40,000 Strong Campaign

Give Money: Click here to donate, today!

 

Together, we will Conquer CHD!

Walking to Washington

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Walking to Washington

Miles Walked: 610/860  

Donations Earned: $500.00

Join me as I ‘walk the walk’ in preparation to ‘talk the talk.’  I am walking from the Pediatric Congenital Heart Association National Office in Madison, WI ‘arriving’ in Washington D.C. just in time for the Congenital Heart Legislative Conference February 25-26, 2015.

Follow my progress here.

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Just a few weeks left, a few hundred miles and a few hundred dollars.

Help me make it to the finish line and reach my goal of 850 miles/$850!

By clicking the button above you can donate by credit card or virtual check.  If you would prefer, you may mail a sponsorship check to PCHA,14 Ellis Potter Court, Suite 100, Madison, WI 53711.

Why Donate?

Every 15 minutes a baby is born with a heart defect.  Every 15 minutes, a new challenge is thrust upon a family. There is no cure. If a baby is lucky enough to survive, they are faced with the life long consequences of congenital heart disease.

During one of those 15 minutes, our world was forever changed by congenital heart defects with the birth of our youngest son.

I am walking to help Conquer Congenital Heart Disease.  I want to ensure that all children, especially my son, not only survive, but thrive to live a long, productive life with congenital heart disease.

I am also walking to support the Pediatric Congenital Heart Association.  In just one short year, it has demonstrated a profound impact uniting both the medical and the patient communities to join in the fight to Conquer CHD.

The Pediatric Congenital Heart Association’s mission is to “Conquer Congenital Heart Disease.”  It is founded on the key purpose to be the resounding voice of the pediatric patient population through collaboration in education, research and advocacy.  PCHA works to reduce the impact of congenital heart disease while striving to realize a world free from it.

Large or small, any donation will benefit children and adults with heart defects.

Thanks!

Amy Basken – Founder and Director of Programs at PCHA

Donate Now

In The Thick Of It

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I’m having one of those days.

All I needed to do was reheat a bowl of soup for lunch.  We have been without a microwave for about a month, now, so heating anything is not quite as simple as it could be.  I dumped the leftovers into the small sauce pan, turned the burner on high and stepped away to check my email (of course.)  As I returned to the warmed soup, I became distracted by the phone, knocked the handle of the pan and proceeded to dump soup all over me, the counter, the floor, and of course the burning hot stove-top.  I was in the thick of it.  “It can’t get any worse,” I thought.  Until the dog came to investigate and delivered sloppy, soupy footprints throughout the rest of the kitchen.

There I sat, right where I was, lost in the mess around me.  I couldn’t go back. I certainly, couldn’t stay there.  I could only go forward.

As I was checking-in on social media, still vaguely smelling like soup, I was reminded of similar feelings surrounding Nicholas’s surgery.  Having our third child was supposed to be pretty straight forward.  Until I was distracted by his heart defect.  I had worry, fear, and anxiety dumped all over me.  And there I sat.  I sat there for quite a while.  I wanted to go back – it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.  But, I couldn’t.  So, I sat there some more, right in the thick of it. Until, I was strong enough to go forward.

Besides the frustration of a very, very messy lunch, my heart aches today for the countless people who are still in the thick of it.  My heart is breaking for those who are saying good-bye. I am worried along side those who are awaiting answers. And, I find hope in those who are starting to take steps forward, finding the strength to emerge – from the thick of it.

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Amy is the Director of Programs for the Pediatric Congenital Heart Association. She is the mother of three including Nicholas who is now 9.