A Word of Thanks from Jules to Precious Hearts

Our family had a lovely visitor on Saturday – someone I had only ‘met’ on Facebook until now.  Suzanne and her band of boys took the drive up to our gorgeous mountain (sunny for the first time in a long time!) with an unexpected surprise for Julian.  Nigel and I knew that something was coming for him, but we weren’t sure what, so our surprise was as great as his was!  Now, our lad is always unsure how to react when he receives a gift, so the huge smiles and excitement didn’t really show itself until Suzanne and the boys had left, but it was there, simmering under the surface until he was sure no one was looking!  Too cool to be really excited at 12 you know.  This is how it all went down, in his own words:  

"‘That bag looks familiar,’ I said. Well, it was true. The signature bag of Precious Hearts (Charity for kids undergoing Heart Surgery) looked very familiar indeed. After all, who wouldn’t forget the day they got a bag full of toys and puzzles to play with while you’re waiting for heart surgery? Anyway, in the bag was a large box... a large, heavy box. And then Susie said: ‘That’s for you,’ I didn’t know what to say. The something in the box was for ME. I hurriedly ripped off the paper and opened the box. And there, sitting in that very box, was a laptop. And not just any laptop. An Acer 750 GB Windows 8 laptop! I was speechless. The last time I had my very own laptop was at least 7 years ago now. I was so excited I nearly wet myself. So, I got stuck into setting it up. 

Well my fellow readers of Saving Jules Blog, that’s how it all happened. But enough about me. Let’s start on Precious Hearts. Precious Hearts: “Gives these children a reason to smile, and supports the families who are always right beside their little fighters.” The children the quote speaks of are the many children that have to stay in hospital waiting for heart surgery. 

The signature bag of Precious Hearts can hold a range of different things, like Toys and Crayons, to Puzzle Books and yoyos. The one that I received when I was waiting for heart surgery was the greatest thing I had ever experienced at the time. I can only imagine what it would be like for all the other kids.

Precious Hearts will buy these little rays of enjoyment and puts these into the bags. These bags are then given to the children lying in wait. 

I would like to thank Precious Hearts on behalf of all children with Congenital Heart Diseases. Thank you so much for going out of your way to bring that special spark to all those children with no battery.

Thank you so much for reading my little input to this blog.

Julian Summers."

Precious Hearts

If you have ever had to occupy a child in hospital, then you will understand what a life saver this gift was to us!  Julian had been booked in for his surgical procedure – creating a hole in his heart (in effect, an ASD – Atrial Septal Defect) and putting in a stent to keep it open - on Wednesday 3^rd August, 2011.  He spent the day fasting (and didn’t complain once, I might add – colour me surprised!) and entertaining the little 4 year old boy in the bed next to him who was due to have a Pacemaker -  is ‘put in’ the wrong way to word it?  Unfortunately, there was a complication with the procedure before Julian’s and the specialists opted to postpone Julian’s until the next day.  Nigel and I were fine with that, and Julian just wanted to chow down!

In my previous post of “Too long to diagnose, almost too late”, I briefly mentioned a charity called ‘Precious Hearts’ and that the nurses on the Cardiac Ward gave Julian a gift from this particular charity, which was a bag of puzzles, games, etc, as a reward for doing so well and keeping young Aodhan occupied and happy until his surgery.  

Did you know that 1 in 100 Australian babies are born with Congenital Heart Disease, and chances are, you may know one; my daughter Ella-Shae and youngest son Boey, both have CHD’s (hopefully it will repair itself as Ayan’s did), and Julian has an Acquired Heart Disease, which means that he wasn’t born with it, it developed as he grew.

Precious Hearts is a wonderful charity that gives these children a reason to smile and relax while in hospital, and also supports their families who are always and forever by the sides of their children.  It’s founders know firsthand what children with CHD go through.  A hospitalisation can last as little as a week, and as long as several months.

Children are extremely restricted after open heart surgery, their movements are limited and most of their days are spent in bed or in a chair; they have drains that are required to stay in place after surgery.

Precious Hearts provides Care Packages to children recovering from heart surgery, a gift which lifts their spirits and helps them pass the many idle (and boring!) hours spent during their recovery.  They are age appropriate – Precious Hearts caters for birth to 16 years of age - and filled with items such as colouring and activity books, pencils, textas, crayons, story books, puzzles, toys, the list goes on and on.  The Care Package program is running at The Children’s Hospital Westmead, where there are close to 1000 heart procedures performed each year.  The Care Packages are kept on the cardiac ward and distributed by nursing staff when the children return from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after their surgeries.  Care Packages are also sent out every week to children in hospitals all over Australia.

Each bag is packed by a Precious Hearts volunteer, no two packages are ever the same, and a lot of care is taken to ensure that all items are suitable for the age of the child who will receive it.  This is the Care Package that Julian received after his procedure was postponed: 

Precious Hearts is operated entirely by a handful of volunteers who have all been personally affected by CHD and are driven by their wish to extend a helping hand to others families in the same situation.  They work hard to raise funds every year, all year round, and volunteers also work hard to raise awareness of CHD within the community.

So, how can you help?  There are many ways to help Precious Hearts get these sanity saving Care Packages to children (and parents) who desperately need a bit of distraction in their lives.   

*  You could organise a Donation Drive with your local school, and it’s the perfect way to fill up those bags – although they do ask for only new items to be donated.   

*  Start a Coin Collection at work,  donate a voucher for a food outlet, or even fuel.  Precious Hearts even gives iTunes vouchers to teenagers stuck in a hospital bed!   

*  Sponsor a Care Package for $30 and it will be given to a child in your name.  

*  If you would like to help out with a cash donation, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.  You can donate on their Give Now Page:  http://www.givenow.com.au/precioushearts

Precious Hearts is a wonderful charity, and they are helping our young Heart Kids enjoy a bit of fun and time away from their worries, at a time when life could overwhelm them.  Head on over to their Facebook page to read about all the families they have helped out:  https://www.facebook.com/preciousheartspage?ref=ts&fref=ts

Julian’s stay in hospital for his surgical procedure was a very stressful time.  Precious Hearts helped to take away a lot of the worry, and boredom, and made the rest of our stay so much easier.

Thank you, Precious Hearts, from The Summers’ Family.