If I had a life, I would probably do things most kids my age do: play sports like football or basketball, run races, or ride my bike with my friends. But I can't do very many things because it could possibly kill me. You see, I have a bad heart.
I have had to live with this all my life. I have had several major heart surgeries since I was small, and three times I died on the operating table. I don't know why, but I am still here..and that is only by the Grace of God, my mom says.
I have scars running up and down my chest, and I have other scars from where I had tubes in me during my surgeries; and I also have needle marks going up and down both of my arms. I am also very small and puny for my age; and I do NOT look like your typical 11-year-old AT all. At 11, I look more like a 6-year-old. And I weigh MAYBE 40 pounds soaking wet. Let's face it: I look like a first-grader instead of a fifth-grader!
I am the butt of jokes; and I don't enjoy school very much. I am absent a lot because my immune system isn't that strong anyway, so I get sick a lot, which ISN'T good at all for my weak heart. I am often on oxygen; and there have been times where I have had to wear my oxygen to school, which always attracts a lot of stares or comments.
Having heart disease has been nothing but a big hassle for me. I can't do very much, and if I DO overdo it, I have trouble getting my breath, and my heart pounds; and it feels like it is going to rip open my chest; and I get all pale and shaky. I have had to have an ambulance called on me on more than one occasion because people panic whenever I get this way.
I don't know if my heart problems will ever get better, but I do know that I inherited it from my father, who died when he was 23. (I was just a little baby then; I don't really remember my dad.) Mom is the one who is raising me, and she has had to put up with a lot because of me and all of my medical problems. But she still tries her best to make me happy and tries to remain upbeat during the times I am in the hospital; and I really do appreciate that! Not many mothers are so devoted to me or my care; and I am glad that my mom IS! She is truly an angel!
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