How Military Families Deal with Having a Child with a CHD (Encore Presentation)

Military families lead a very different life than civilian families do. Military families come from all walks of life and, when their children are diagnosed with heart defects, the challenges can vary according to location, branch of service, and of course separations that come at the most unexpected times. Despite these challenges, military families try their best to find ways to balance all aspects of their lives with a positive attitude. When a child is born to a military family and that child has birth defects, the one thing most families want is comfort -- and oftentimes comfort is found in what is familiar but many of our military families are not afforded that luxury. How do military families deal with having a child with a heart defect? What special challenges do they face? Who can help them through the difficulties associated with having a child who needs surgery in the first days or months of a baby's life and will require lifelong care? Our Guests today are military wives, Andrea Quirk and Chelle McIntyre-Brewer. They explain to us what is involved in the lives of our military families dealing with congenital heart defects.