There were two local benefit 5k road races the first two weekends of June that Sarah ran along with other family members. She just decided at the last second she wanted to do them. And given her increased energy levels since recovery and general great health, we said to go for it. And she did! She blew me away in the first race running with one of her faster paced friends and ran most the race coming in at 41 minutes (not bad for a 11 year old having never ran). This is pretty amazing considering 2 months prior she had OHS! She loved the race and wanted to run home (another 2 miles), but I drew the line there, plus it was a sweltering 85°.
You can see the smile on her face, a bit red, as we all were, was very hot. She really killed it and caught the eye of many school teachers and friends... "Was that Sarah?!?... Did she just have heart surgery?!?" Yes, yes she did. Then she went on to run another 5k the next weekend and did equally as well.
She could not have don this without the great care and expertise of the Boston Children's crew (Dr. Emani, Dr. Lang, and all the excellent nurses)! This is a testament to how you don't need to let OHS procedure limit your future activities - take care while in recovery, but then get back to life!
Now I need to get running more to keep up with her!!
