Empowering Through Educating with Technology

Eighteen years ago, when the Internet was first delivered to my home via a dial-up connection, there was not much information available for families of children with congenital heart defects. Many of the sites were memorials to heart warriors who left earth too soon and there wasn't much hope for families or much information written for the common person to understand what was going on and how to deal with it.

I started my website BabyHeartsPress.com and then CongenitalHeartDefects.com in order to fill a need for information specifically for parents and then later for the survivors of congenital heart defects. I wanted to paint a picture of hope for members of the congenital heart defect community. With my background in education, I felt an obligation to teach and empower members of my community through the written word.

Just this last week, a fellow heart mom and friend, Callie Rickard, shared some news with me. She told me about a mobile app that is designed to help parents understand what some heart defects look like and what must be done to repair those funky hearts.

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is making the app Heartpedia available for people who have an iPad or iPhone. They even have 3-D images available! Currently 7 congenital heart defects are mentioned:

• Tetralogy of Fallot

• Coarctation of the Aorta

• Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

• Transposition of the Great Arteries

• Ventricular Septal Defect

• Patent Ductus Arteriosus

• Atrioventricular Septal Defect

You'll have the ability to toggle your way between a normal heart and the heart with the congenital heart defect, as well as having the ability to read about the heart defect, view various slides explaining the heart defect and watch video animation that describes the heart defect and the surgeries commonly used to repair or palliate (reduce the severity of) the heart defect.

The best part about this is that it's free!