In this episode we talk to the incredibly inspiring CHD adult and author of From the Sidelines to the Finish Line: A Chronic Illness Survivor’s Challenges and Everyday Triumphs Emily Falcon! She has an amazing story of overcoming struggle and achieving what she never dreamed she could. We discuss her Benjamin Button-like life story and how she learned to make the most of every opportunity she was given. She truly displays how to live life to the full while having a CHD diagnosis. We were so inspired by Emily and we know you will be too!

CLICK HERE to get copy of Emily's book From the Sidelines to the Finish Line: A Chronic Illness Survivor’s Challenges and Everyday Triumphs

Our book Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease is available ⁠HERE⁠ on Amazon! To learn more about it, and all of our other CHD Parent resources, check out ⁠www.tomandkathansen.com⁠.

Follow us @tomandkathansen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Questions or comments? Reach out to us at ⁠[email protected]⁠

Please rate, review, and subscribe to The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode we talk to CHD adult and creator of The Heart Dialogues Leigh Kamping-Carder! She is a journalist located in New York with a master's in journalism from NYU and runs the newsletters team at a big media outlet. You will hear her thought-provoking perspective on the part CHD plays in a person's identity, and how the presence of it affects all parts of their life. We discuss the importance of various CHD narratives being shared with the CHD community, exploring the nuances of their stories and appreciating their perspectives. We loved gaining her insight on all of this and more, and we know you will too!

CLICK HERE to read The Heart Dialogues!

Our book Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease is available HERE on Amazon! To learn more about it, and all of our other CHD Parent resources, check out www.tomandkathansen.com.

Follow us @tomandkathansen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Questions or comments? Reach out to us at [email protected]

Please rate, review, and subscribe to The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode we talk to CHD parent Grace Harvey! She & her husband live in Michigan where they both work full-time jobs as they try to navigate their family's CHD journey. Grace shares her story about how they make their heart warrior's health, family, careers, relationships, and mental health all priorities along the way. She has some great insights on authenticity and empathy in her work life as well. So CHD families who have two full time working parents, listen up, because you will gain a lot from this episode!

Our book Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease is available HERE on Amazon! To learn more about it, and all of our other CHD Parent resources, check out www.tomandkathansen.com.

Follow us @tomandkathansen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Questions or comments? Reach out to us at [email protected]

Please rate, review, and subscribe to The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents anywhere you listen to podcasts!

*TRIGGER WARNING* This episode contains discussion about child loss. 

In this episode we talk to CHD parents and James Doss Memorial Foundation owners Carlee & Randy Doss! Five years ago they lost their son James to congenital heart disease and today they talk to us about their grieving process since it happened. We discuss how communication was key to sustaining their marriage during that difficult time, and how community and remembering have been helping them ever since. They have lots of great advice for parents grieving the loss of their child and we learned so much from them sharing their experience with us. The James Doss Memorial Foundation Golf Outing & Banquet is on July 15th, 2023 so make sure you go to their website listed below to sign up or contribute to their incredibly important cause!

Carlee & Randy's Foundation: James Doss Memorial Foundation

Carlee & Randy's Website: jamesdossmemorialfoundation.org

Carlee & Randy's Social Media Handle: @golfjdmf

Our book Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease is available HERE on Amazon! To learn more about it, and all of our other CHD Parent resources, check out www.tomandkathansen.com.

Follow us @tomandkathansen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Questions or comments? Reach out to us at [email protected]

Please rate, review, and subscribe to The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode we talk to heart dad and author of the books Steal the Reaper & Hunt the Reaper Todd Hosea! Todd has been a heart dad since 1999 and has so much wisdom to share on taking care of your relationships, letting go of normalcy, and pursuing your dreams on the CHD journey. He also encourages CHD parents that they are capable of so much more than they can imagine. Todd is so inspiring so go listen to this episode immediately!

Todd's Books on Amazon: Steal the Reaper & Hunt the Reaper

Todd's Website: toddhosea.com

Todd's Social Media Handle: @toddhoseaauthor

Our book Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease is available HERE on Amazon! To learn more about it, and all of our other CHD Parent resources, check out www.tomandkathansen.com.

Follow us @tomandkathansen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Questions or comments? Reach out to us at [email protected]

Please rate, review, and subscribe to The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode we talk to heart warrior & psychotherapist Tracy Livecchi, LCSW ! Tracy shares about her new book Healing Hearts and Minds: A Holistic Approach to Coping Will with Congenital Heart Disease that she co-authored with Dr. Liza Morton. The focus of their book is mental health challenges in the CHD community and it gives tangible solutions for each of those challenges that may arise on the CHD journey. You'll heart a bit about Tracy's CHD story and how she & Liza wrote this book together without having ever met in person. She has such a unique perspective as a heart warrior and mental health profession and you won't want to miss a word of her valuable advice!

Tracy & Liza's Book on Amazon: Healing Hearts and Minds: A Holistic Approach to Coping Well with Congenital Heart Disease

Tracy's Website: tracylivecchi.com

Tracy's Social Media Handle: @tracylivecchi

Our book Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease is available HERE on Amazon! To learn more about it, and all of our other CHD Parent resources, check out www.tomandkathansen.com.

Follow us @tomandkathansen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Questions or comments? Reach out to us at [email protected]

Please rate, review, and subscribe to The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode we talk to heart mom & The Love for Littles shop owner Josie Hau! Josie shares the incredible story of her heart warrior Maya, who also has Down Syndrome, and how Josie coped with the difficulties by searching for certainty and magic on her family's CHD journey. She also discusses how her family made the decision to have more children after Maya and what helped her in the decision making process. You'll hear all about her shop The Love for Littles and the support bracelets she makes to help ease the burden of families who are struggling. You won't want to miss a minute of this episode, so go listen now!

Josie's Website: theloveforlittles.com

Josie's Social Media Handle: @theloveforlittles

Our book Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease is available HERE on Amazon! To learn more about it, and all of our other CHD Parent resources, check out www.tomandkathansen.com.

Follow us @tomandkathansen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Questions or comments? Reach out to us at [email protected] Please rate, review, and subscribe to The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode we talk to heart warrior Faith Brackett! This incredible young woman has accomplished so much in her life thus far, from winning Ultimate International Miss Maine to starting her own foundation called CHD Tablet Talk to help keep children with CHD connected and engaged while experiencing lengthy hospital stays. We introduce you to her family's motto "Do it but do it differently" and how that's helped her with problem solving ways to normalize her life experiences. You will be so impressed and encouraged by Faith's hopeful story!

Faith's Website: www.faithbrackett.com

Faith's Social Media Handle: @faithbrackett_

Faith's Book: Nellie and Ellie's Hospital Adventures - A Heart Like Mine

Our book Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease is available HERE on Amazon! To learn more about it, and all of our other CHD Parent resources, check out www.tomandkathansen.com.

Follow us @tomandkathansen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Questions or comments? Reach out to us at [email protected] Please rate, review, and subscribe to The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode we chat with Heart Mom & Pediatric Cardiology Echo Tech Brittany Freese. We discuss her unique position as a heart parent & a medical profession in the cardiology world, and what kind of perspective that gives her on her family's CHD journey. She encourages us & other CHD parents to enjoy the moment we're in with our heart warriors and to not let the past or future hinder it. You'll love hearing from Brittany as much as we did!

Our book Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease is available HERE on Amazon! To learn more about it, and all of our other CHD Parent resources, check out www.tomandkathansen.com.

Follow us @tomandkathansen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

Questions or comments? Reach out to us at [email protected] Please rate, review, and subscribe to The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents anywhere you listen to podcasts!

In this episode we chat with Heart Warrior Letitia Aloysius! She is 21 years old and is wise beyond her years. You will learn so much from her about how to talk to young heart warriors about their CHD, and how to make sure they know that they are MORE than their CHD. We loved learning about what her day to day looks like as a young adult heart warrior & more about who she is! 

Our book Hope and Courage: Six Life Lessons from the Parents of a Child with Congenital Heart Disease is available HERE on Amazon! To learn more about it, and all of our other CHD Parent resources, check out www.tomandkathansen.com. 

Follow us @tomandkathansen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter 

Questions or comments? Reach out to us at [email protected] Please rate, review, and subscribe to The Hope and Courage Podcast for CHD Parents anywhere you listen to podcasts!