"The Country Doc" is a rural family doctor in the heart of logging and farming country. When not practicing full spectrum "womb to tomb" family medicine he blogs on everything in health and health care from a "country doc's" perspective at http://thecountrydocreport.wordpress.com.
I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, a wife and most importantly, a mommy to 4 precious children (one of which is still growing tenderly in my womb.) Our youngest son, Nicholas, was born, at full term, sound asleep on November 7, 2008. We are now experiencing a lifelong journey of heartache without our special boy and struggling to find unique ways to honour the love and the joy he has brought...
Ava~Hope for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.
I am passionate about teaching parents how to advocate for their child's health. My third daughter Ava was born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. CDH is when (inside of the womb) the diaphragm does not form properly. The abdominal organs move up into the chest cavity, compromising the heart and lungs. Half of all babies born with this birth...
I specialize in Family Medicine & Geriatrics. While the latter focuses on care of the elderly, the former encompasses the life cycle from cradle-to-grave and womb-to-tomb, regardless of sex or age.
But I practice medicine with a twist - I don't settle for good enough. How often do you hear that from your physician - "it's good enough". But good enough for what?
Sure, a...
I am the parent of a former micropreemie, who is also a surviving twin. After identical twin sister died at 27w4d, Daphne was delivered in critical condition and suffered kidney failure due to the blood loss in utero. She also had a congenital heart defect. She spent 5 months in the NICU and had open-heart surgery at 6 months. She continues to face feeding problems and some developmental...
After a heart-breaking struggle with infertility, we conceived our identical twin girls through IVF. They suffered from life-threatening Twin-to-Twin Transfusion in-utero, causing me to undergo laser surgery, and 13 weeks of bed rest, 10 of which in the hospital. Every day for a long 13 weeks, we wondered if we would be among the mere 50% of TTTS cases where both babies make it. Our daughters...
Roger and Jesse Smith welcomed Lukas Scott into our lives in January of 2007. He came into this world with only one ventricle, but with incalculable lessons to teach those who love him.
Luke was born with a congenital heart defect, diagnosed at 20 weeks in utero with a missing right ventricle. We knew even before he was born that he would face three open-heart surgeries. As of August 2007,...
As a mother of two healthy, busy boys I was taken back when my third child was diagnosed with a soup of congenital heart defects (CHD) while still in utero. His conditions include: double inlet left ventricle (DILV), Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA), a large ASD which has now been modified to create a single atrium, pulmonary atresia, and dextrocardia. He has already undergone two open...
