Heart to Heart with Anna

How is it possible an organ donor might actually be responsible for two lives, even when giving a heart to a man? What was life like for Nick May years after his heart transplant? Did Nick May have a similar experience as his siblings growing up, considering he had a heart transplant as an infant?  Susan May is mom to Nick, 33, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, transposition of th...

Baby Hearts Press People's Choice Award Winners, Dr. Brandon Lane Phillips and Jeremy Miller, return to "Heart to Heart with Anna' with an update on how their award-winning book is doing and all of the exciting news surrounding the book. Why would a cardiologist choose to write his life story about growing up with tetralogy of Fallot? How did his life intersect with his favorite childhood actor fr...

What are warning signs a doctor may be experiencing doctor burnout? How are some nonprofits affected by doctor burnout? What can members of the CHD community do to try to reduce doctor burnout? Today's program is 'Dr. John Calhoon on Doctor Burnout in the CHD Community' and our Guest is Dr. John Calhoon. Dr. Calhoon is both a congenital and adult cardiac surgeon and was my Heart Warrior’s surgeon....

What are some of the dangers of addiction when you have a Fontan heart? How does a Heart Warrior who has addiction problems break free from the addiction? What new project is Joe Flowers embarking upon in 2023? Today’s show is Addiction and Congenital Heart Defects and our Guest is Joe Flowers. We’ll start today’s program by learning a bit about Joe in Segment 1. In the second segment, we’re going...

What considerations need to be made if people are born with congenital heart defects and determine their gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth? Is it possible for someone with a critical congenital heart defect to take hormones safely? What advice would an adult transgender woman have for others in the CHD community? Hope Jaworski was born in Temple, Texas with a...

Why would a doctor recommend parents take their child to a facility to live his life in the 1980s? Is there ever a good reason to take your child out of the hospital and take him to Disney instead? How did Peg trust her gut when it came to her son needing cardiac transplantation during COVID-19? Peg Eitl is a mom of three children: Joe, 40, Jason, 36, and Lacey, 31. Joe was born with Down Syndrome...

How can a family deal with the loss of a child? What happens when a surviving child needs a transplant? What advice does a long-time Heart Mom have for other heart families? Bridgett Streacker has been married to her husband Brian for 34 years. They have four children: Jacob 33, Chesna (stillborn), Mallory (their Heart Warrior), and Haleigh 24. As a family, they have gone through many surgeries an...

Who is Alessandra Lichtenfeld and why did she write a film entitled “Broken Hearts”? What can a heart warrior teach the world about living with a CHD through film? How does a Heart Warrior go from being “fixed” to needing open-heart surgery at 23 years of age? Alessandra Lichtenfeld was born with pulmonary stenosis and has 6 procedures on her heart, starting from when she was 2 years of age. Throu...

Why are members of the CHD community more at risk for certain kinds of psychological problems than those outside of the heart world? What makes people more at risk and what can be done about it? Thanks to Covid, people seem more reluctant to leave home for elective medical help so how can people receive treatment within the privacy and safety of their own homes? Amy Bjorkman is the mother to a 17-...

Why would a heart mom work for a CHD organization? What would prompt a young woman to leave her career and work for the same organization? How does this organization help families affected by CHD? Kate Stacy and Sydney Philpott-Streiff both work at Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation, a nonprofit committed to year-round support for families and children affected by pediatric heart disease. Kate is mom t...

Amy M. Le is the guest host for this episode of “Heart to Heart with Anna.” She interviews Anna Jaworski and Megan Tones about their upcoming book “The Heart of a Heart Warrior.”  Anna Jaworski became part of the congenital heart defect (CHD) community when her child was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).  She looked for resources to learn about HLHS, and unable to find anything sui...

How can Heart Mom use therapeutic techniques to overcome PTSD and CTSD? What is CTSD anyway? What is mindfulness and how can it help someone suffering from traumatic events? Djinni Yancey is the mother of 3 young adult children. Lauren is 23, Brianna is 21, and Isaac is 19. Isaac is a Heart Warrior who was born with a single ventricle heart. In addition to his congenital heart defect, he has other...

How can Heart Mom use therapeutic techniques to overcome PTSD and CTSD? What is CTSD anyway? What is mindfulness and how can it help someone suffering from traumatic events? Djinni Yancey is the mother of 3 young adult children. Lauren is 23, Brianna is 21, and Isaac is 19. Isaac is a Heart Warrior who was born with a single ventricle heart. In addition to his congenital heart defect, he has other...

Why would it be helpful for parents of adults with congenital heart defects (or CHDs) to have group therapy? What kinds of problems might parents of adult Heart Warriors face? Who provides this specialized kind of therapy? Dr. Smorra is passionate about psychotherapy for the CHD community. Being born with CHD herself, she brings experiential knowledge, along with her training, and research when wo...

Why devote a magazine to the congenital heart defect community? Who are the editors of the "CHD Magazine" and how do they choose their articles? What have been some of the featured articles and what is yet to come? This program features former Guests and authors Jenny Muscatell and Amy M. Le. We discuss how the "CHD Magazine" came to be, who helps in various ways, and how members of the CHD commun...

How can a 30-year-old Heart Warrior single ventricle survivor live without the Fontan? What special considerations need to be made when moving from Egypt to Canada? What are the biggest concerns when you fall out of cardiac care? Ellen Banoub was born in Egypt 30 years ago. She is a Heart Warrior, diagnosed with a hypoplastic left ventricle, transposition of the great arteries (TGA), pulmonary atr...

What is tricuspid atresia? What kind of complications did Amanda Braun face over the last three decades? What surgical interventions have helped Amanda overcome her cardiac challenges? Born in 1988, Amanda Braun was diagnosed with Tricuspid Atresia, VSD, and HRHS. She had her first of 6 surgeries at 3 months old, which was a pulmonary artery banding. At 4 she developed endocarditis and had to have...

Why would an Australian support group start a podcast? Why is it valuable to have ‘HeartKids’ doing interviews? What topics interest Aussies who listen to this podcast? Sam Stolberg and Rachael Knowles are the hosts of 'From the Heart,' a podcast by HeartKids - the only national charity solely focused on supporting people impacted by childhood heart disease based in Australia. Childhood heart dise...

Hvordan kan en 35 år gammel HVHS hjertekriger overleve når han ble født i Norge? Hvilke spesielle hensyn måtte gjøres når han mottok helsehjelp i USA? Var denne hjertekrigeren bekymret for at barna hans også hadde en hjertefeil? Lasse Fagereng er født i Norge med HVHS. Foreldrene hans tok ham med til barnesykehuset i Philadelphia, hvor han fikk sin første operasjon bare to dager gammel av Dr. Norw...

How can a 35-year-old HLHS Heart Warrior survive when he was born in Norway? What special considerations needed to be made when receiving care in the USA? Did this Heart Warrior have concerns about his children having a heart defect, too? Lasse Fagereng was born in Norway with HLHS. His parents took him to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he had his first surgery at two days of age by Dr...

What exactly is “Failure to Thrive”? How has one mother battled that diagnosis? What resources are available to help other families dealing with Failure to Thrive? Debi Lewis is the mom of two daughters – Ronni and Sammi. In 2005, Debi’s second daughter’s birth began what would be a nearly decade-long journey through the confusion and inefficiencies of modern pediatric specialty medicine. Initiall...

Why might a father get a tattoo to resemble his daughter's open-heart surgery chest scar? How could getting a tattoo like that change his life? What does being an advocate for the CHD community mean to Matt Backe? Matt Backe is married to his wife Laura and together they have a 10-year-old son Jack and a 4-year-old daughter named Everly, who was born with a critical heart defect. Matt went viral o...

What happens when a Fontan patient’s ejection fraction dips too low? Can a person’s heart damage be reversed? Is there hope for a cure for congenital heart defects? Brenton Ball was born in 1990. He was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome or HLHS and was airlifted to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa in his first week of life. He has had several heart surgeries including a pulmonary ar...

This episode deals with a very unusual congenital heart defect (CHD) -- a vascular ring defect. In this episode, we will be learning about what this heart defect is, how it affects the body, how the defect can be surgically managed, and how one mother took this experience and created a children's book to help other children with CHDs. Carli Valentine lives with her husband and their two sons, Finn...

What are Beads of Courage? Why would someone with a heart defect want to receive beads when experiencing difficulties in their medical journey? Who can benefit from the Beads of Courage program? Today’s show is Beads of Courage for CHD Warriors and our Guests are Beth Moneck and Brianna Hartmann. Beth has 6 years of experience working on a Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and Acute Care unit and Cardia...