March For Babies

So yesterday was the day we've been gearing up for for the last two months or so... we joined thousands of others across America as we walked five miles in support of the March of Dimes' goal of all babies being born healthy. I am completely overwhelmed by the tremendous support I was given by all those who donated money to this amazing cause. Because of you, I raised $3275 in Nash's name to give to the March of Dimes. Thank you, thank you... from the bottom of my heart.

I would like to share something that I haven't really talked about as of yet. The day after Nash died, we were told he had two things wrong with his heart - he had only two of the three cusps that should be on his aortic valve (he was born with this). Secondly, he had endocardial fibroelastosis (EFE), which was basically a large amount of tissue that grew on his left ventricle - this caused his heart to function incorrectly. EFE is said to not be congenital, but it develops very early on in an infant's life. This is what ultimately caused the problems Nash was having the day he went to the hospital. We were under the impression that these two issues were independent of each other - that neither was related to the other. After reading through Nash's autopsy report a couple weeks ago, however, I found that the EFE seems to have occured because he had something wrong with his heart from the day he was born. Because he only had two cusps on his aortic valve, the EFE was able to develop. I had no idea.

Finding this out makes me hope that someday doctors will do more to look at babies' hearts than they do now. Maybe babies like Nash would be able to be saved. The present-day routine screenings do not pick up the sort of problems Nash had, but an echocardiogram would have easily done just that. The March of Dimes does a lot of work to get babies more screenings that help prevent various health issues. Maybe new procedures in checking babies' hearts will someday be on that list.

So thank you again to all of you... those that helped me raise money, those that sent us your prayers as we walked, and those that were with us in spirit. It was a very emotional day to say the least. Thank you also to my parents and the Hathcock family who all walked beside us despite the damp weather. Thank you to Linda Bailey for organizing our team and for encouraging me to participate. Linda... I know Madison was right alongside Nash yesterday as they looked down on their families.

I look forward to next year... By walking in this March, it feels like I am still "taking care" of my little boy. I am showing him that he mattered when he was here and he matters now.

Love to y'all,

Tracy