It may be Valentine's Day but I'm not quite as bitter as the title of this post would have you think.
Today I am getting past the single girl blues and simply being happy to be here with my wonderful friends and family. Today is Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Day, and I am one of more than 180,000 Canadians who live with a congenital heart defect.
I was diagnosed with a severe coarctation of the aorta in summer 1998, when I was 13. Thanks to amazing surgeons at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, a graft was put in place of my severely narrowed aorta and I now live a basically normal life, now with ongoing monitoring by the Adult Congenital Clinic at the Ottawa Heart Institute.
It was a total fluke that I was diagnosed and I am enduringly grateful for that - defects such as my own are all too often only discovered by the sudden death of a youth (such as is often seen in hockey players).
While I am currently quite healthy, knowledge that my heart is already weaker than most means that I need to (and am starting to truly) take greater responsibility for my health and its maintenance. February is also Heart and Stroke month and I really appreciate the work of Joannie Rochette in raising awareness around the importance of women's heart health. So while I may bitch about it, I am hitting the gym more these days (beyond just trying to look hawt wearing a bridesmaids dress in the spring). Because I won't always be single on Valentines Day, and I want as many of them as possible.
If you have a chance, please check out excellent organizations such as: the Canadian Congenital Heart Alliance and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Take the time today to think about those that love you, want you around for as long as possible, and see if you can't help make that happen.
