08/10/2025
❤️
"But they had surgery…aren’t they healed now?"
It’s a question we hear too often when talking about kids with congenital heart defects.
There’s a misconception that once surgery is done, the battle is over. But the truth is, for many of these kids, surgery is just the beginning of a lifelong journey.
What people don’t see is what happens behind the scenes.
They don’t see the handful of medications taken every day just to keep their heart functioning and their body in balance.
They don’t see the weekly blood draws. Tiny arms poked again and again to make sure medication levels are safe and effective.
They don’t see the monthly echos checking heart function, watching for valve leakage, or monitoring for new complications.
They don’t see the quiet battles these kids face each day just to keep up with their peers. The fatigue, the shortness of breath, the moments where their body says “no” when they desperately want to say “yes.”
They don’t see the hours spent in physical and occupational therapy to build strength and coordination that come more easily to others.
They don’t see the struggle to overcome oral aversions, to learn how to eat or drink when every bite or sip is a challenge.
They don’t see the fear that comes with every new test, every follow-up appointment, every whispered “we need to keep an eye on that.”
So no, they are not “healed” after surgery.
They are survivors. Fighters. Warriors.
Still facing the storm every single day with courage that most will never understand.
Please don’t assume the journey is over.
Sometimes, it’s only just begun.
