By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

I've been playing a lot of disc golf the last couple of weeks. Between the coach of the local high school team leading his kids through the middle of the course and interrupting play, the vandalism to the course, and the amount of garbage that people are leaving, it's given me pause to think about—why? I think it comes down to a lack of respect. All three of those things can be tied back to a lack of respect for the people who use the course on a regular basis. But, I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about the lack of respect everyone sometimes shows for themselves.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

A week ago we had Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. This was my first time at this event and it definitely will not be my last. Two things really struck me about this annual event.

The first was being able to sit down with our representatives or their staff and tell our 30-second stories. It amazed me that as I spoke, you could see things click in their heads as they absorbed. Here it is, my 30-second story that I used:

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

In today’s post, I wanted to write about moving forward in a positive way and how we can do that; instead, I’m going to write about getting through tough times. I'm in the middle of one now, or at least what I think is one of the toughest things about living with CHD. You see, I'm about seven months post-op and I feel incredible. My energy is way up and I can run for more than a couple of hundred feet for the first time in years, but I can't do the things I want because I'm having pain in my sternum and ribs down the back of my left side. It happens any time I stretch my diaphragm and it is like a hot knife being stuck in me.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

January first rolled around and we all made our New Year’s resolutions. Doesn't matter what it is or what our intentions were, it's been a couple of weeks and now your initial resolve is starting to weaken as obstacles are placed in your way. You see, when you started out and made your resolution, you didn't sit down and think about what might happen in your everyday life that would make it difficult to achieve your goal.

Think about it—for instance, if you decided to lose ten pounds or eat healthier, you weren’t thinking about that kid’s birthday party where they would be foisting ice cream and chocolate cake on you. So the question becomes, when faced with these obstacles, what are you going to do to overcome them? I have three ways to overcome these obstacles that I use. I'll give them to you in order of least favorite to most favorite.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

Inspiration can mean different things to different people. It can be a picture, a movie, a poem, a person—well, really, anything that makes you want to do better. The only thing that can be said about inspiration is that everybody at some point needs it.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

It's three months post-op for me and I'm starting to run. I don't run far—maybe 500 or 600 feet before my lungs feel like they are about to explode and my knees are screaming for me to stop. I'm out there, though, and I'm doing it and I'm getting a little better at it every day.

People now ask me, why? It's so hard on your body and you’re gasping for breath. Especially with a heart condition. For me, there are three reasons.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

It’s been ten weeks since my last open heart surgery and I've had ups and downs. I was released only to end up in the hospital for another two-and-a-half weeks. Then I had a couple of bouts of withdrawal when I stopped the steroids they put me on. Here’s what I've learned from all of this: Perseverance is the key to recovery.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

Note: read Part 1 of Jon’s post by clicking here.

The second thing that helps me at the hospital is to find things to do. Anything that takes your mind off the monotony of sitting in a hospital bed staring at the ceiling is going to help you get out of the hospital sooner. I'm not talking about watching TV, either. Most hospitals provide a personal TV with a few crappy cable networks but really, it's like a token way for them to occupy your time.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

For those who do not know, I had cardiac surgery at the very end of July. It was fairly major in that it involved two valves and removing part of the right atrium, as well as some things to help eliminate some of my rhythm issues. Needless to say, I spent 10 days of recovery in the hospital and was discharged ahead of schedule. Twenty-four hours later I was in my local hospital with my regular cardiologist, conferencing with the original surgeon.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

I know you won't be reading this blog post until July 11th, but I am writing this right now at the end of June. It is currently a Friday and today is my first full day of a ten-day vacation. I felt I needed this time away. You see, at the end of July, I will be having my third open heart surgery.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

I am the father of a wonderful 21-year-old kid. I've raised him since he was two years old with some help from my parents and brothers along the way. He's seen me at my best and worst as I've dealt with my CHD.

When he was a little we used to go out and do all kinds of things together—kayaking, hiking, shooting and fishing. As he reached his teenage years my CHD began to take its toll on me. I developed CHF and slowly I was unable to do the things with him that we used to. We still spent time together going to movies or just hanging out but; he was a healthy active kid who needed activities.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

I'm kind of a silly guy in that I live my life by moments. I do my best to live my life in the moment, trying to notice everything that is happening around me. It is how I live my life these days. I no longer concern myself with things I have done in the past. Many of those things I can't do anymore and dwelling on that accomplishes nothing except developing resentment for what I have lost.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

I think of everything around us as a tool. As part of the CHD community, I know that technology is definitely a tool. Technology has allowed us access to new surgical techniques and devices that have allowed many of us to live longer, more productive lives.

Experience is also a tool. Simple trial and error has answered many questions for my generation and the ones that are coming up now.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

A recent comment about faith on an online ACHD group I belong to got me thinking. I listen to people talk about faith—people in the CHD community, my regular community, the religious community for sure. I see a lot of people go to church, temple, synagogue, and pull out their prayer rug. If you ask them why, they tell you it is their faith. They do these things because they have faith in their religion, their religious leader or their particular religious scripture. They have faith, as if faith were an object. As if the person who belonged to the right religion had the real faith and everyone else’s faith was somehow counterfeit.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

Let me tell you a little about my journey over the better part of this last decade. I have lived in congestive heart failure for almost 12 years. In that time I have been mostly able to lead a normal life. In fac,t I would go as far as to say I was more active in my life than many people that I know.

It hasn't all been peaches and cream, though. Eight years ago I was forced to leave work. I had numerous tests done and a new ICD put in due to episodes of V-Tach. During that time I found that my EF (ejection fraction) was only 15%. There was talk about the possibility of getting a transplant or maybe surgery.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

February is Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Month—an important month for me and many of my friends. It’s our month. We get to bombard you with facts and statistics about CHD and you get to listen.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

Living with a CHD is hard sometimes. We deal with all kinds of issues.

Often we are tired, sore and stressed about surgeries or procedures, in pain from those same surgeries or procedures, and recovering while knowing that everything we went through is just a patch and that we will have to have another procedure somewhere down the line. It's tough and at times feels impossible.

By Jon Ritchings, Jr.

Waiting. We all do it. We wait in line at the grocery store, the department store and the DMV. But these are all ordinary types of waiting. What I’m talking about is waiting in limbo—that time many of us have experienced where we have seen our doctor, taken some tests and are now waiting for doctors to get together and confer about our issues and what the possible fixes might be.