My Little Stress Relief

I've picked up an old hobby and now making it a business – you know, as if I don't have enough to do with life in general and Broken Hearts of Florida. Since I've been off work on maternity leave, I've gotten back to taking pictures, which I absolutelylove doing. It’s truly a stress reliever for me, and I love to hear a family’s reaction when they see their pictures. Although I love taking the typical pictures that almost all photographers shoot, I’ll also be offering to take photos of a family’s medical journey. I know firsthand how important is to document that time that your child is going through a health-related event, such as a hospitalization or a regular checkup. For many of us, doctors’visits, clinic appointments and hospital stays are a typical part of our lives and it’s often important to tell that story through photographs.

When my daughter Taylor was born, we had no idea what her future held because just 10 years ago, the double-arterial-switch procedure used to repair her heart defect (congenitally corrected transposition of the greater arteries) had only been done 29 times at Children’s Hospital Boston where she went for her open-heart surgery. Taylor had just a 50-50 chance of making it, without complications. But Taylor is always complicated, so we always worried she wouldn’t survive. But she’s also a fighter, and now, 10 years later, she is strong and healthy, and I am thankful to have a photo journal of her life so far.

Photos capture the special moments and major events in our lives. Now that I am doing photography again, I want to offer other families that gift of a photographic documentary of their child’s medical journal. We all hope and have faith that all of our children make it through their ordeals, although very sadly, not every journey has a fairy-tale ending; I would strive to depict that story with compassion and sensitivity.

If you’re interested, please don’t hesitate to call me. We can talk through what you’re looking for, and create a plan and schedule that works. My contact information is 850-228-3200.

Taylor - 6 months Post Op

On June 6, 2012 Taylor was 6 months post op from getting her 7th pacemaker and new leads. Which means she is finally off her physical restrictions of not being able to do anything that would hurt her and sternum. Woohoo! Keeping Taylor from doing anything physcial was extremely hard and very heart breaking to her! I hated telling her no about things that she couldn't do but I didn't want us to have to go back in the operating room to fix anything because we fell running or falling off the trampoline. 

I am very glad to say that FINALLY after her 12th surgery she didn't have any complications and NO MORE THUMPING!! Thank you God!!! I was so nervous that she would have another complication to make her recovery that much longer.  Taylor is such a trooper and has been through so much in her 10 years that I can only imagine what she has gone through and what she remembers...

Taylor's teacher and school handled her being out for a month and half pretty good. Although there were times I wasn't sure she was gonna get the school work done, she did. I will say that if we have a choice to have surgery while out of school I'm all for it because not only stressing about recovery we were also stressing about getting her school work done. So in August when school gets back in, Taylor will be a 5th grader. I can't believe it...my baby girl is growing up so fast!

Taylor goes back to Shands for a check up on July 18th to make sure all is well and pacemaker is working well and that the setting are where they need to be. Thank you to everyone who prayed, and who continues to pray, for Taylor, her surgeon, and nurses to help her through this surgery. The prayers worked and we had yet another miracle.