Raising funds for congenital heart defect (CHD) research is not only critically important to all babies born with, and children and adults living with CHDs, it is also personally meaningful to me.

By donating to help me reach my fundraising goal, you’re helping to fund the most promising research into CHDs - America’s most common birth defect.

My 4 year old daughter Aurellia was born with and will always have congenital heart disease (CHD). In the US, 1 in 100 babies are born with CHD yet many go undiagnosed for various reasons. CHD consists of heart defects that are present at birth that affect the structure and function of the heart, such as what Aurellia has - holes in the wall between the upper heart chambers, a right coronary artery in the wrong place, & 3 of the 4 heart valves all having deformities/issues. She also has an abnormal heart rhythm issue (supraventricular tachycardia) that is most likely due to her CHD that can cause her heart to beat too rapidly (2-3x the normal rate), which has resulted in a misdiagnosis, 5 emergency department visits, 2 hospitalizations, being put on 2 different anti-arrthymia medications, and PTSD for Aurellia all within the past year.

Aurellia will have a special procedure (ablation therapy) in hopes of fixing the arrhythmia issue as well as having open heart surgery to repair her heart defects in the next 1-2 years so that she has the potential to live a long and healthy life. With all of this that she has going on, Aurellia is actually fortunate. Fortunate that she lives in the Boston area where there are several top notch hospitals including one of the very best for CHD in the world. Fortunate that her parents have the financial capability to pay for all of her healthcare needs. Fortunate that her mom works in research and is at least somewhat medically knowledgeable. Fortunate that her pediatrician heard her heart murmur at 4 months old so that she could get diagnosed with CHD otherwise we might not have known until something terrible happened. Many children with CHD are not so fortunate.

This is why I am doing this post: For CHD Awareness, to help those who are not as fortunate as Aurellia, and to help advance research and innovations in this area of medicine that I am passionate about. Please donate to the heart walk that my team and I are doing in May called the "Congenital Heart Walk" with the Children's Heart Foundation. We appreciate any amount that you can give. Thank you for your generosity!

Together we can make a life-saving difference! Thank you in advance for your support.