Novick Cardiac Alliance PICU Nurse and Educator, Roslyn Rivera, BSN, RN remembers her experience with heart surgery as a child. As a pediatric cardiac ICU nurse, I often find myself rocking crying babies just hours after their heart surgery, while I repeat the phrase “I know, I know…” in an attempt to calm them. I …
Brenda Kingsley is a mother who volunteers with Cardiac Alliance – here she shares her story with us. Mother’s Day is very special to me, I have been blessed with five children and each of them have changed my life greatly. In 2004, I was pregnant with my fourth child and had gone in for …
Dilya Cleveland was 11 years old when she first met Dr Novick and his team – 20 years later she has shared her story with us. Although my surgery was performed in September 21, 1995, my mind holds strong memories and that experience will never be forgotten. I was visiting my local cardiologist since I …
Dear Friends, I am writing to introduce you to a new non-profit charity founded by me and those who wanted to further my dream to help children around the globe with congenital heart disease. After 22 years of operating on 7500 children in 32 countries with International Children’s Heart Foundation, a significant number of us …
We had just begun our trip in Iraq and were in the ICU setting up and waiting for our very first patient when Dr Novick arrived with one of the cutest children we have ever seen. Her name is Hijar and she is one year old. Hijar was born with a hole between the top …
In December 2005 Dr Novick and a team of professionals made the first of what would be 17 surgical trips to the Armed forces institute of Cardiology (AFIC) Rawalpindi, Pakistan. As with any new endeavor we had high hopes for this centre but none of us could have imagined what they would actually achieve. Within …
We would like you to meet Aleksandra or ‘Sasha’ as she is known to her friends. Sasha is 14 years old and was born with heart disease and for 14 years that has been the most important fact in her life. Because Sasha was born in Russia she did not receive the treatment she needed …
Our most recent trip to Libya was truly groundbreaking. The first open heart surgery in the city’s history and a hospital flooded with camera crews to document the occasion showed just how thrilled the local Libyans by this first mission, but this was also a first for some of our volunteer nurses. Of all places, …
Volunteers Reflect On Their First Surgical Mission Read More »
Only 2 weeks after her first birthday – baby Mila has already had 2 open heart operations. Mila is a 1 year baby old girl from a small town 60km south east of Skopje. She lives with her mother, father, her brother Luka and her grandparents. The family first knew that Mila had a heart defect …
This is Munam. This lucky little guy just became the first open heart surgery recipient in the history of his city! Having no access to treatment and very little money, Munam’s mother and father spent their savings renting cars and buying expensive Egyptian visas to travel back and forth across the border seeking care for …
Meet Munam, His City’s First-Ever Heart Surgery Recipient Read More »
