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Our Heartkids
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Tina -
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Hi
everyone. My name is Tina Greenfield and I have
been a member of Heartkids Queensland since I
was a couple of days old. I was born on the 20th
of March in 1989 in Maryborough to my parents
Tony and Denise Greenfield. I was their third
child and the only one (out of five) with a
heart condition.
My
parents have told me about my surgery and a lot
of the dramas associated with my birth. Being
born in a regional hospital, the doctors
couldn’t even diagnose what was wrong. All they
knew was that I was very blue. They sent me to
the Prince Charles Hospital and on arrival my
heart stopped. This was because my patient
ductus wanted to close. So I had to have a
balloon placed in the patient ductus to get some
oxygen. My mum told me that during this first
procedure (which was by catheter) the doctors
ruptured the main artery in my leg, so I have an
extra scar, but who’s counting.
I
had my main surgery on the 5th April
1989. This was an Arterial Switch. This
procedure was a success but I had many other
complications. The doctors thought they ruptured
my sound box because I didn’t cry or make any
sounds for three days. Every month to six
weeks up to the age of 7, I would start
vomiting. This dehydrated me to such a state
that I went into heart failure and caused me to
go on a drip and since then I hate having
needles. I also had week bones and at the age of
6 and 7 I had two major accidents involving my
arms. One shattered/broke one of the bones away
from my elbow and I dislocated the other. These
fractures happened in the same month but in
consecutive years. Crazy isn’t it. I had to
spend a long time in hospital and away from
school. Now I have two weird shaped elbows but I
don’t mind. My mum took me back to the maternity
unit in Maryborough three months after my
operations and the staff (the ones that cared
for me) was amazed at how well I was doing. They
told my mother that they didn’t expect to see me
again.
Since then school has always been a struggle.
When I was younger the teachers used to let me
bring a pillow to school and rest whenever I
needed to. I would always get headaches during
class and have to go to the sick room to rest. I
also seem to get sick a lot and whenever I got
sick with something (even as simple as a cold) I
would be sick for weeks and miss a lot of
school. . Sometimes it seems that I live on
antibiotics. On top of that I also developed
Psoriasis and I am constantly trying to keep
this under control. So I’m always trying to
catch up on schoolwork and sometimes it does get
too much, but I’m learning to deal with it.
Other than these problems, I have led a
relatively normal life. I have competed in most
sports at Maryborough, state and Australian
level. When I was 8 and 9 I represented
Queensland in the national Judo league in which
I received a third and a forth. It may seem like
I was a very athletic girl but my main love is
music. I have been playing the violin since I
was nine and enjoy it immensely. I have been the
leader of the Maryborough State high school
string orchestra since grade 8, but this is not
my main instrument. I have played the flute
since I was 10 and a half and have completed my
Grade 8 A.M.E.B exam (which is better than most
first year university students) and hope to
become a professional flautist someday in the
future. My flute teacher Karen Lonsdale lives in
Rochedale, Brisbane so I have to travel with my
parents for about three and a half hours to see
her. I go down to her every two to three weeks
and although this is very exhausting I am so
thankful that I have that opportunity to see
her.
This
year has been full of many achievements. I am
currently a prefect (student leader) at
Maryborough state high school and was invited to
play in the State Honours Program at the
Conservatorium of Music for principle
flute/piccolo. This will be the third year I
attend the State Honours Program. Last year I
was part of the local production of Oliver and
received the encouragement bursary worth $100.00
from the local eisteddfod.
Recently I had an opportunity to make a speech
at the Mary River Lions Club, as part of the
Lions Youth of the year competition. As I had
just attended the Heartkids teen camp, I decided
to do the speech on Heartkids and some of the
inspirational people I met at this camp. I
didn’t win but my speech had so much of an
effect that the Lions club raised $700.00 in an
Easter raffle for Heartkids. This made me feel
so proud because it had such a positive outcome.
They invited me to their next meeting to receive
the cheque and I received so much from this
experience.
This past year in year 12 has been a challenge
but thank god I’m well. My cardiologist has
given me a great report and I am looking forward
to the challenges that university life provides
and tackle them head on. My life has been a
rollercoaster ride, full of ups and downs, to
success.
I
just want to say, to all the other Heartkids out
there that whatever hand you have been dealt you
need to embrace life, follow your heart and
dreams, accept any challenges that have been
placed in the way and try your best. Nobody can
ask for anymore than that.
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