Mommy, Grandma and Ava went to a event at McCauley High School with Ava’s Aunt April and cousin Tori. Meghan Roswick is one of the guest speakers. We’re very excited for Ava To meet her she’s been a HUGE inspiration to us since we started following her story prior to Ava’s birth. She has HLHS and obviously Ava has HRHS but they both only have half a heart just opposite sides! She has never let it slow her down and she was a competitive gymnast, professional skier and has even sky dived!!!!! She lives ever day to its fullest and that is exactly what we try to do with Ava in hopes she will continue to live her life that way when she’s older and making her own decisions!!!! I have learned so much about life through this journey not only from Ava but all of these warriors that battle not only Heart Defects but any type of disease! There is a lot to be learned from a child!!!!!!!
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I chose to post the picture of Ava so you could see how sweet she is. This particular article shows how one child getting to see and be with someone that has the same thing they do can help the child and the family in many ways. Ava may not be big enough or old enough right now to know the full impact of her meeting Meghan Roswick, but her family will continuously tell Ava about Meghan for years to come.
Like the article says, they both have the same problem. They both have only one half of a heart. But one has the left side, and the other one has the right side. Ava will be told how Meghan has been able to do so many things, and has not let her disability stop her. I can only imagine that it will encourage Ava to try hard as she can also. Ava now has someone like her to look up to. The two girls will probably continue to be friends from here on out. Of course for the next few years, until Ava gets older, it will be her parents keeping up with Meghan. However, when she gets old enough to, then Ava will do it herself.
It is great when people that have unusual medical problems find someone else that has or has had the same or a similar problem. They can then compare notes with each other and draw strength from each other as well.
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UpDaTe
Ava has been doing AMAZING lately. Her ventilator is only used for CPAP settings and she is off of the vent completely now for 8 hours during the day. She has a speaking valve that she uses when she’s on her windows. She has a new stander that is helping her tremendously with core strength. She has a new hearing device that works much better than her hearing aids for her, with this new equipment she talks much more and is always smiling especially to Mommy and her crazy sisters voices! She did great yesterday on her swallow study and is cleared to eat small amounts by mouth and start working on a sippy cup. Overall she is doing EXCELLENT. Still not setting on her own but she’s so close. Ava is very happy and loves to be outside and really enjoys her outings with the family!
