CARDIAC PATIENT GROUP PLANNED.Byline: Sharon Sharon, city, United States Sharon (shâr`ən), city (1990 pop. 17,493), Mercer co., NW Pa., on the Shenango River, near the Ohio line; settled c.1800, inc. as a city 1920. Cotal Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - When a child is diagnosed with a dangerous illness, it often helps when the parents can discuss their fears with other parents who have faced the same crisis. In order to help families with children who have had heart disease, heart defects, stroke, cardiovascular surgery cardiovascular surgery Heart surgery An operation for repairing structural defects of the cardiovascular system Examples CABG, repair of congenital heart defects, varicose veins, aortic aneurysms, ventricular remodeling, transmyocardial or related conditions, the American American, river, 30 mi (48 km) long, rising in N central Calif. in the Sierra Nevada and flowing SW into the Sacramento River at Sacramento. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill (see Sutter, John Augustus) along the river in 1848 led to the California gold rush of Heart Association's Santa Clarita Division is forming a Cardiac Kids support group. The group is still in the planning stages but will include networking sessions, guest speakers and family outings, said Pat Willett, the American Heart Association's local executive director. ``We have a list of people who are interested, but we haven't had a chance to plan things yet,'' Willett said. ``It will be up to the group to see what they are interested in and what they want to focus on.'' The idea for the group came from Patti Crow, whose 12-year-old son underwent successful open-heart surgery open-heart surgery Any surgical procedure opening the heart and exposing one or more of its chambers, most often to repair valve disease or correct congenital heart malformations (see congenital heart disease). . She expressed to Willett the frustration her family felt when she could not find other parents to talk to about the ordeal ordeal, ancient legal custom whereby an accused person was required to perform a test, the outcome of which decided the person's guilt or innocence. By an ordeal, appeal was made to divine authority to decide the guilt or innocence of one accused of a crime or to . Shortly after her conversation with Crow, Willett attended an American Heart Walk conference, where she heard about Cardiac Kids groups across the country, and she decided to get one started in Santa Clarita. Most of the children who have shown an interest in the group were born with genetic heart defects that had to be corrected through surgery. ``Some of them had their surgeries when they were very young, but they all share that trauma of having suffered through heart disease and having to deal with it,'' Willett said. Willett hopes the new group will want to participate in the American Heart Association American Heart Association (AHA), n.pr a national voluntary health agency that has the goal of increasing public and medical awareness of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and thereby reducing the number of associated deaths and disabilities. Heart Walk taking place Oct. 21. Some Cardiac Kids units in other areas often make up full divisions of local Heart Walks, earning money to support the research that helped these children survive. Families interested in being involved in the support group can call Willett at (661) 259-3845. |
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