Birthdays and Anniversaries for February!

John, Lorelei and I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to those who are having birthdays this month!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to:
Beth Wilson (John's Aunt)
Jennifer Ford (John's Cousin)
Dylan Wilson (John's Cousin's son)
Rick Wilson (John's Uncle)
Scott Risher (John's Cousin's Husband)
Joe Wilson (John's Uncle)
Honey Socci (my Dad's Fiance)
Jenny Loysen (my Cousin)
Jewel Hanson (John's Cousin)
and
Asher DeMatteo (John's Cousin's son)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to:
Paul and Joan Wilson (John's Uncle and Aunt)
and
Tom and Jeanne Friedel (John's Parents) ~ Congratulations on 34 years of marriage!

Stay tuned because this month I am going to bring you through our Heart Journey so far (since it is National Heart Month) and highlighting places, people, events and websites that have helped us or joined us on our journey. I will introduce you to people and blogs that have become our friends and some that I just read about! I am excited to take you through this journey that has become our 'normal'.

Leaving you with some statistics that I took from the American Heart Association's website:

3,531 people in the United States died from congenital cardiovascular defects in 2005. At least 15 types of cardiovascular defects are recognized, with many additional anatomic variations.

• Thousands of babies are born each year with cardiovascular defects. Of these,
  • 4–10 percent have atrioventricular septal defects.
  • 8–11 percent have coarctation of the aorta.
  • 9–14 percent have tetralogy of Fallot.
  • 10–11 percent have transposition of the great arteries.
  • 14–16 percent have ventricular (ven-TRIK'u-ler) septal defects.
  • 4–8 percent have hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
• About 650,000 to 1,300,000 people in the United States with cardiovascular defects are alive today.
• 2006 death rates per 100,000 adults for congenital cardiovascular defects were 1.3 for white males, 1.7 for black males, 1.0 for white females and 1.3 for black females.
• Infant death rates (under 1 year) are 36.5 per 100,000 white infants and 52.5 per 100,000 black infants.
• From 1996 to 2006 death rates for congenital cardiovascular defects declined 33.3 percent, while the actual number of deaths declined 26.7 percent.