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Congenital Heart Defects

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Warming Hearts: Blanket Drive For Young Cardiac Patients

NJ's Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week closes, along with a local blanket drive, on Thursday

There is a small, hand-made quilt that lies at the foot of Christopher Olivadotti’s bed. He’s had it since he left the hospital after his first open-heart surgery, the one he had when he was just two days old. Christopher is 9 years old now. He’s survived three more surgeries to mend his heart from a complicated defect. And there will doubtless be more turns in the cardiac unit of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where a kindly stranger nearly a decade ago was moved to acknowledge his fight for a lifetime with a small token – a little warm comfort for someone so small who had already seen so much. It’s a kindness that Christopher’s mother, Alexandra Scheininger, is trying to spread around for other veterans of the hospital’s cardiac …

a jacob

9:42 pm on Wednesday, February 13, 2013

We run this every year starting in January. If you email me your address at yankiefann@comcast.net I can send you a reminder for next year. Also if you are a fan of Facebook we do have a page so if you like it, you will get reminders and updates https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blankets-For-Love/235435429922301?ref=hl   more ›

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

New Law Gets High Marks From Local Cardiologist

New Jersey first in nation to require newborn heart screening

A new state law mandating the testing of newborns for heart defects was praised Tuesday by a local cardiologist as a step in the right direction. But Dr. Loyda Rivera, a pediatric cardiologist with offices in Wall and Middletown, said New Jersey’s first in the nation status hopefully will spur similar federal legislation and bring the rest of the country in line with the Garden State. Gov. Chris Christie last week signed into law a bill requiring every newborn be screened for heart defects through a non-invasive, painless procedure called “pulse oximetry,’’ or “pulse-ox,’’ for short. The test measures the percentage of oxygen in the blood and the effectiveness of the heart and lungs. A sensor taped to a newborn’s foot beams red light …

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