One Voice: United Against Congenital Heart Disease with Monique Kemp

Monique Kemp's world turned upside down when her unborn son was diagnosed with an interrupted aortic arch at seven months of pregnancy. What followed was a harrowing journey through six open-heart surgeries, months of hospitalization, and the birth of something unexpected – a powerful vision for supporting other families facing similar challenges.

From those early days sitting beside her newborn's hospital bed to founding Heart of Hope-Cape Town, Monique shares with raw honesty how she transformed her personal pain into purpose. Her support group, now running for 12 years, fills a critical gap she identified during those long hospital stays – medical staff trained to heal bodies, not necessarily to hold space for parents' emotional trauma.

The conversation takes a dramatic turn when Monique reveals how her maternal instinct potentially saved her son's life. As Daniel entered his teen years, his complaints of pain were repeatedly dismissed as psychological by doctors who had known him since infancy. Only after switching to a new pediatrician did they discover his heart conduit had grown down into his stomach, displacing organs and causing genuine physical distress. This experience highlights a dangerous blind spot in CHD care–the critical transition period between ages 10-21 when patients are most likely to fall through the cracks.

Perhaps most eye-opening is Monique's perspective on global CHD care disparities, comparing attitudes toward heart interventions between North and South India, and advocating passionately for what the CHD community needs most: to become "one voice" as prominent as the condition itself, which remains the number one birth defect worldwide.

Whether you're a heart parent seeking community, a medical professional wanting deeper insight into patient experiences, or simply someone interested in how personal tragedy can transform into powerful advocacy, this conversation will leave you understanding why the CHD journey requires both medical expertise and emotional support that only other heart families can truly provide.

Links Mentioned in the Episode:

Top 20 Congenital Podcasts: https://podcast.feedspot.com/congenital_disorders_podcasts

Baby Hearts Press: https://www.babyheartspress.com

Chapters

• 0:00 H2HwAnna Monique Kemp (English)
• 3:34 The News
• 5:04 Interview
• 18:43 Segment 3

Transcript

Monique Kemp: We need to become one voice. Yes, it's slowly happening, but I really wish that our voices will become number one, just like CHD is the number one birth defect.

Anna Jaworski: Welcome to Heart to Heart with Anna. I am Anna Jaworski and the mother of an adult with a single ventricle heart. That's the reason I'm the host of your program. I want to share something personal with you today, something that's been weighing on my heart. This year, my family has faced a heartbreaking loss of connection.

After my son and his partner separated, my granddaughter moved to another state with her mother. Most recently, when we traveled to visit her, we were denied the chance to see her, even though her mother knew we were coming. This experience has been incredibly hard on my [00:01:00] son, my husband, and me. Through this, I've learned about grandparent alienation and parental alienation.

These are terms I wish I'd never needed to know, but they describe a pain that's very real for many families. When I was unable to see my precious granddaughter, I sat in our rented Airbnb and poured my feelings into a children's book in her honor. I'm now searching for the right artist to bring it to life.

I've also started writing a book about isolation and alienation-- topics I know many of us have faced in different ways. Writing has always been therapeutic for me. It's why I started Baby Hearts Press years ago. As I work on this new book, I find myself revisiting the feelings of isolation and alienation I experienced as the parent of a child with a chronic health condition.

I remember those days in the hospital waiting for my baby's open heart surgery. My child was hooked up to machines in a drug-induced coma, and I was a [00:02:00] parent who wasn't allowed to parent nurses cared for my baby around the clock. There were no diapers to change, no breastfeeding, just IVs and catheters.

All I could do was gently touch my baby's head, smoothing hair and softly singing, 'You Are My Sunshine' tears streaming down my face as I reached the words. "Please don't take my sunshine away." If you've ever felt this kind of isolation or loneliness, you know how deep it goes.

Sometimes, looking back, it feels like it happened to someone else. Have you ever experienced something like this? Do you know what it's like to feel lonely or as if no one truly understands what you're going through? Recently I spoke with my coach at The Speaker Lab about this. He said, "You're a grandparent who doesn't get to be a grandparent."

That resonated with me and took me right back to those days in the hospital when I was a parent who couldn't parent. The one thing I [00:03:00] keep reminding myself is that things can get better. People are resilient.

Hearts can change. Connections can be rebuilt, and if they're severed, it may not be forever. New connections can also be made often in the most unexpected ways. You'll hear more about that in today's interview with Monique Kemp from South Africa. She'll share how her experience raising a son with a critical congenital heart defect inspired her to start a support group for others.

I hope you'll stay tuned for that conversation. But first, let's move on to the news.

The News

Anna Jaworski: Just today I received an email letting me know that Heart to heart with Anna has been selected by Feed Spot as one of the top 20 congenital disorder podcasts on the internet. Out of all the podcasts listed Heart to Heart with Anna came in at number five, I visited the website and I was truly honored to see our show included alongside so many other important voices.[00:04:00] 

Most of the podcasts on the list focus on Down syndrome, but I was pleased to see another CHD podcast represented as well. It's a great reminder that these communities are deeply connected. Many people may not realize that about 50% of individuals with Down Syndrome are also born with a congenital heart defect. This recognition isn't just about me, it's about all of us, the guests who bravely share their stories, the experts who offer their insights, and of course, you, our listeners, who make this community so strong and supportive.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to help shine a light on congenital heart disease and to be part of a broader conversation about congenital disorders. If you'd like to see the full list or learn more about these podcasts, I'll include the link in the show notes.

Thank you for being part of this journey with me. Together we're making a difference, one story at a time. Next up, we'll be talking with Monique Kemp, a Heart mom, the founder of [00:05:00] Heart of Hope, Cape Town, and an advocate for families dealing with congenital heart defects.

[00:06:00] 

Interview

Anna Jaworski: Today's guest is Monique Kemp. Monique Kemp is the founder of Heart of Hope, Cape Town, and an advocate for families navigating the challenges of congenital heart disease or CHD. Her journey began when her son was born with an interrupted aortic arch and atrial septal defect, or a VSD.

This required six open heart surgeries and extensive hospital stays. To support other parents facing similar experiences. She created a CHD support group, which has now been active for nearly 12 years as a CHD advocate and speaker. She has attended pediatric cardiology conventions in South Africa and Barcelona.

Sharing insights on the critical transition from pediatric to adolescent [00:07:00] CHD Care. Through her work at Christiaan Bernard Hospital, she continues to support families adjusting to their new normal, a mother of three teens. She is passionate about raising awareness and ensuring that CHD families receive the guidance and community they need as their children grow.

Welcome to Heart to Heart with Anna, Monique.

Monique Kemp: Thanks, Anna. I'm happy to be here and thanks for having me. 

Anna Jaworski: I am very happy to have you, my dear, and I cannot believe you're the mother of three teens. I had two teens at one time, and that was quite a handful, three teens. Wow. You deserve a badge of honor for that.

Monique Kemp: Thank you so much. Yes. It is a bit of a mouthful. 

Anna Jaworski: But I'm so excited to hear that your son has already turned 14 and seems to be doing well. I don't know much about interrupted aortic arch. So can you tell us a little bit about what his heart condition is [00:08:00] and some of the open heart surgeries he's had?

Monique Kemp: Sure Anna. An interrupted aortic arch is a rare congenital heart defect where the section of the altar, the body's main artery carry, oxygen-rich blood is missing or interrupted. With this, it prevents proper blood flow to the lower part of the body. Daniel's anomaly is that of division because of ECHD diagnosis, and in seven days he had his first 12 hour surgery.

Thereafter, he had a application of his diaphragm because after the first surgery, his diaphragm came undone for the lack of a better phrase or description. Mm-hmm. After they discovered Hirsch's disease, which was repaired at three weeks and at four weeks old, the conduit, the doctors placed in his heart at seven days needed to be redone.

Anna Jaworski: Oh, no. wow. [00:09:00] That's so much to go through and it's terrifying that the conduit came undone. So I guess they did emergency surgery. 

Monique Kemp: It was fairly an emergency, but they were very proactive in keeping it as calm as they could possibly do. At four weeks old, it was very life-threatening for him.

Anna Jaworski: Sure. Absolutely. Wow. So he had a couple of surgeries in close succession.

Monique Kemp: I know that's correct. Very, very close succession. It was probably a week and a half apart for each of them, 

I would say. 

Anna Jaworski: Wow. And he's made it to 14. This is amazing. With the interrupted aortic arch, part of the arch is missing, and you made it sound like they sewed a conduit in place, but that conduit would not grow with him.

So has that had to be replaced as he's grown bigger? 

Monique Kemp: After the second conduit was, He managed to live with that [00:10:00] conduit till the age of 13 and a half, and in July, 2023, they had to replace it and put in an adult conduit for him 

Anna Jaworski: Right, right. You would expect that because usually they use like a Gore-Tex patch or some other kind of manmade material, and that is not going to grow with our kids, but we're doing things right, they keep growing. Right. . 

Monique Kemp: Absolutely. 

Anna Jaworski: Yeah. And you wanna have one in there that will hopefully last them the rest of their adult life. My child had to have a surgery as a teenager as well, and it was the same kind of situation. Now we hope That will last for her whole life. So he had another surgery at 13. This one he remembered. He probably didn't remember the first two.

Monique Kemp: The first four. No, he didn't remember any of it. His cardiologist has told me that they do have some sort of recollection of something happening.

 Even though they are babies, in the very back of their [00:11:00] minds, they do have an idea that they went through some medical drama. 

Anna Jaworski: Mm-hmm. 

Monique Kemp: but the one at 13 and a half, he definitely remembers. Before and after. 

Anna Jaworski: Oh, I'm sure. Let's back up a little bit. Your baby was born with what's called a critical congenital heart defect and friends, that means that surgery had to be performed in the first year of life for the baby to survive. Can you tell me what it was like for you after you received his diagnosis? 

Monique Kemp: If they are aware, you can go for your routine checks and they check for deformities of the heart. And this is what happened to us. I was seven months pregnant and he discovered that he had this CHD condition.

For me, the diagnosis was overwhelming and so much uncertainty came in waves in the space of. Just a minute after being told. , so it [00:12:00] takes a while to process the diagnosis. And I think for me in the beginning stage, there was a whole lot of panic due to the fear of the unknown.

Anna Jaworski: Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. Wow. Okay, so you found out while you were pregnant. You had to endure two more months of pregnancy knowing that the baby was going to have a major problem. Did they prepare you that you really should give birth at a particular hospital so the baby would be able to receive the proper care?

Monique Kemp: For me, the antenatal doctor, she put me in touch with his cardiologist who was at Christiaan Barnard at the time. Because of that referral, I went to Christiaan Barnard. At Christiaan Barnard, Dr. Susan Vosloo, she's there as well. And so they were very adamant that I have it there because everything was [00:13:00] under one roof.

Anna Jaworski: Sure. 

Monique Kemp: My gynecologist, however, was not with Christiaan Barnard. 

Anna Jaworski: Right. 

Monique Kemp: He was the kindest doctor He allowed me to have Daniel at Christiaan Barnard, and he came to deliver Daniel for me. 

Anna Jaworski: Oh my goodness. That is so sweet. Oh, wow. 

Monique Kemp: Yeah. That was amazing. 

That was amazing. 

Anna Jaworski: Now, how 

far was that hospital from where you live?

Monique Kemp: It's 20 minutes. 

Anna Jaworski: Oh, okay. 

Monique Kemp: Yeah, it wasn't far at all. In that aspect, we are very lucky not to be staying, far from these important places like this hospital particularly. So that was a blessing. 

Anna Jaworski: Right, because there aren't a whole lot of hospitals in your

country or in the whole continent of Africa that actually does these kinds of surgeries. Isn't that true? 

Monique Kemp: I think 14 years ago it really wasn't. But I must say I've noticed [00:14:00] that in the last 14 years, there's quite a few, hospitals actually become heart specialists. 

Anna Jaworski: Really. That's so good to hear. That's really good.

Monique Kemp: Oh, I must 

say, I don't know how many of them actually are pediatric specialist. 

Anna Jaworski: Ah, yeah. There's a big difference between pediatric heart and congenital heart defects versus acquired heart disease. 

Monique Kemp: Yeah, absolutely. 

Anna Jaworski: You had several surgical procedures that had to be done. You found out in utero when women are already hormonal and emotional, how did you navigate the months that you had to endure leading up to your baby surgery, and then the recovery period. 

Monique Kemp: So Anna, to be very honest, and if I sit and I look back and I have, conversations like these and I ponder to myself how I really did make it through, there is no real one answer [00:15:00] for it.

It was really a day by day challenge. , and over the 14 years and what I tried to express to mothers, especially that I come across, is that parent have to navigate through this emotional journey the way they feel fit. 

Anna Jaworski: Mm-hmm. 

Monique Kemp: For me, like I said in the beginning, it was loads of panic.

Anna Jaworski: Sure. 

Monique Kemp: And with the diagnosis, they did amniocentesis. That very night when they discovered his heart defect. And I was forced to lay for 14 days and for 14 days it was just myself and my mind. 

Anna Jaworski: Oh my goodness. and the baby that you were carrying, that you were... 

Monique Kemp: and the baby 

Anna Jaworski: ...uncertain about, that's a lot. That's a lot to deal with. 

Monique Kemp: It really was a day by day challenge. And I took my emotions as each day presented itself, and for [00:16:00] me it was a real balance of faith and prayer and believing in medicine. 

Anna Jaworski: Yeah. Well, that's so good that you had your faith to fall back on and that you did believe in medicine.

My goodness. The hospital you were going to is one of the most well-known hospitals in the world. 

Monique Kemp: That is correct., 

Anna Jaworski: and for the heart, because it was the place where the first heart transplant was conducted. 

Monique Kemp: Well, not at that hospital. The first heart transplant was done at Groote Schuur.

 Christiaan Barnard Memorial is just named after Dr. Professor Barnard, I should say. Okay. Yeah. 

Anna Jaworski: Okay. That shows how much I know.

Monique Kemp: That's why we have podcasts like these. 

Anna Jaworski: Exactly. So we can all learn together. So Christiaan Barnard is the famous doctor who did the first surgery, but the hospital that he did it at [00:17:00] is in a different place than the hospital you went to? 

Monique Kemp: That's correct.

Anna Jaworski: Okay. I'm glad you cleared that up for me because if I go to Africa, I wanna make sure that I know where I'm going.

Monique Kemp: Oh, 

absolutely. Mm-hmm. 

Anna Jaworski: I think what you tell your mothers in your support group and what you experience is exactly what I experience when people ask me, how did you survive that? You do it one day at a time and just like you, my faith was extremely important to me, and my husband was a nurse. So like you, I did have faith in the medical community, so that's a blessing to know that you had those things that you could allow yourself to believe in at a time when you felt so helpless.

I'm so impressed that you started a support group when your son was so young. It's tough when you have a little one to do something like that. So tell us how your group has evolved over the [00:18:00] last 12 years, especially considering during those 12 years we had a Covid pandemic. 

Monique Kemp: Oh, absolutely Anna.

I think it was one rainy night when, almost eight months into Daniel's heart journey where we were in hospital from the time he was born. And what I've noticed about parents, especially moms, we very emotional beings and parents would look for emotional support from the nurses or even the doctors.

 This was very prevalent in the time I spent in hospital and I just felt that I needed to create some sort of support for these mothers for us to lean on each other for the emotional support and allow the medical staff to take care of our kids.

 Because one night there was one mom that was really, leaning onto the nurse and, being there for months, you learn different things and you see different emotions . I could see the [00:19:00] nurse didn't know how to reciprocate the emotional side, and she was trying to explain that I'm there to look after your child.

 What would you have me do? give you emotional support or take care of your sick child? And this was the reason why I started the support group. And when Covid hit, the moms I've come into contact with since I started, they all thank me for teaching them to believe in themselves and to lean on themselves whether it be a husband, a sister, a mom instead of leaning onto the medical staff because with Covid, none of us had access to the medical staff. 

Anna Jaworski: Oh, wow. 

Monique Kemp: That's how I feel my support group evolved within the community. 

Segment 3

[00:20:00] 

Anna Jaworski: Monique, your son is now 14 years old. Can you share some personal experiences of how his care has changed over the years and why transition from childhood to adolescent care is important? 

Monique Kemp: Yes, Anna. I'll speak about my [00:21:00] experience of the time leading up to him actually having his sixth open heart surgery when he was 13.

The year prior to that, I had him at so many doctors for so many appointments. 'cause then his stomach would be sore or he'd have a ache in his knees-- there was always something different. And I was taking him to the same pediatrician that saw him when he was a baby and.

Every time the diagnosis would come back, but there's nothing wrong. We don't see anything wrong. And he would say, but mom, there is pain. There's real pain. It came to the point where they said he may need counseling because with everything that is been going through. And I had to come to the point where I had to say, my child needs a new set of medical eyes. 

Okay, so with the time leading up to Daniel's surgery when he was [00:22:00] 13, you know, there was a lot of, misdiagnosis happening and I had to come to the point when I had to realize as a mom, he needed a new set of medical eyes to take care of him because something wasn't adding up. He was complaining about real pain and the only diagnosis that came through was conversion pain, and I couldn't understand because you wouldn't make the pain up.

So... 

Anna Jaworski: Right. Most kids, they're just the opposite. You have to worry that your kid is going to let you know that something is wrong. So Daniel was not just fabricating something, you knew something really was wrong, but these doctors or nurses just weren't picking up on what it was. 

Monique Kemp: No, and at that point, I realized I needed to do that transition of doctors, it was hard because many of [00:23:00] them knew him from a baby. 

Anna Jaworski: Mm-hmm. 

Monique Kemp: He grew up in front of them but deep down as a mom, I just knew that something was really wrong. 

Anna Jaworski: Yeah. 

Monique Kemp: I eventually changed him to another pediatrician who looked at his entire case from beginning to end.

She created her own file. She created her own medical history about him. She didn't ask for any medical history from the other doctors because she said she wanted to build her own case. When I was in Barcelona, one section they had about parenting stood out for me.

It was that from the ages of 10 to 21, CHD children are so neglected. They are so neglected because not only are they transit decisioning into becoming adolescents, but they won't often say, I'm sick, or I feel like this, or I feel like that. And [00:24:00] leaving Barcelona.

That stuck in my mind, and this was exactly what was happening with Daniel. 

Anna Jaworski: Mm-hmm. 

Monique Kemp: He was being neglected because he seemed fine. 

Anna Jaworski: Mm-hmm. 

Monique Kemp: He was growing according to them, slowly but growing and. The same set of doctors looking at him as if he was a baby, was detrimental to him transitioning into adolescent.

And when I took him to a new pediatrician who had this new set of medical eyes on him, she took him through the tests and then discovered that his neck surgery for his heart is actually due. 

Anna Jaworski: Oh wow. 

Monique Kemp: So they did, for example, a colonoscopy, 'cause he complained about his stomach and things like that.

Anna Jaworski: Mm-hmm. 

Monique Kemp: But because the conduit had grown so far down into his stomach, his stomach shifted and they couldn't find anything wrong with his [00:25:00] stomach. But that was because the stomach was in the wrong place. 

Anna Jaworski: Right. 

So that might cause pain because the nerves might be. Pressed by something that they're not normally pressed by.

Monique Kemp: Yeah. And the conduit was so deep down in his heart cavity that it was also pressing against his stomach catheter. That was one discovery she made, which eventually stopped walking. He had to go back on crutches. 

Anna Jaworski: Oh, 

Monique Kemp: That was in March. And then July, 2023, he had his sixth open heart surgery. 

Anna Jaworski: Oh my goodness.

Thank goodness you trusted your gut and you got a new pediatrician. Wow. I've never heard of this happening before. 

Monique Kemp: I think if it wasn't for me, being allowed to learn that from the conference, I would not have taken note of the fact that that is actually what happens to these kids between 10 and 21.

Anna Jaworski: Isn't that [00:26:00] amazing? Yeah. Wow. Well, you went to the right conference at the right time, didn't you? 

Monique Kemp: Yeah, absolutely.

Anna Jaworski: , 

Monique, you have traveled extensively and spoken to a lot of families since you started supporting and advocating for people with CHD and their families. You already told us what you learned in Barcelona, but I'm believing here that maybe you've talked to some other parents who have also experienced some kind of disparity in transition care. 

Monique Kemp: For me, a big example of transition care would be between North and South India. North India is still very old school, if I can say it like that. 

Anna Jaworski: Sure. 

Monique Kemp: They don't believe in surgery. They don't believe in medical care. So with babies born with congenital heart disease in North India. There isn't time even for [00:27:00] transitioning to medical care because they just don't believe in that. Yet in South India, they're more modern they believe in modern practices and they do surgery and even though we know South India to be. Not the richest of countries, but they have more of a modern mindset to save children with congenital heart disease than that in North India.

Anna Jaworski: Fascinating, and I've heard this same thing from my friends who live in India. The ones that are in the north, they're struggling to get the care they need. And if I'm not mistaken, they're a socialized medicine country. 

Monique Kemp: Yeah. 

Anna Jaworski: But that doesn't mean they can go wherever they want to. So I've spoken to a number of moms who are trying to raise awareness to make things different for their children.

Yeah, absolutely. What steps do [00:28:00] you feel hospitals and medical professionals need to take to improve transition care for young people with CHD?

Monique Kemp: I do feel that medical professionals should listen to parents. 

Anna Jaworski: Mm-hmm. 

Monique Kemp: If I take my own situation. 

Anna Jaworski: Yeah. 

Monique Kemp: They weren't allowing me to speak on behalf of my son. They weren't allowing him to speak on behalf of himself. So no, he's only 13.

It can't be anything. It's in his mind and that was it. I do feel that if young CHDs are able to tell medical professionals. "It is like this, like I'm telling you," and allow their voices to be heard and for medical professionals to actually listen. I feel with my situation with Daniel, also because we came along the road with the same pediatrician, it was just a case of, no, you [00:29:00] guys are looking too much into it or something like that. I do feel that if hospitals and medical professionals will just take that little bit of time to just hear the patient 

Anna Jaworski: Yeah.

Monique Kemp: Or the caregiver of the patient... 

Anna Jaworski: mm-hmm. 

Monique Kemp: ...it would really make a difference. 

Anna Jaworski: I agree with you a hundred percent and I think what's tough right now is that Daniel, my daughter, Hope, and a lot of other heart warriors out there are living longer than they ever expected. So we don't have the longitudinal data to show them some of the things that could happen as these people get older.

I had never heard of the problem being discovered in the stomach and through a colonoscopy that saved your child's life. I have no doubt that that saved his life. He needed another surgery. But there probably aren't a thousand Daniels out there [00:30:00] with the interrupted aortic arch who made it to 13, where they've been able to look back retrospectively, 20 years to see, 'oh, well in 10% of the cases this happens.'

They just don't have that data. We're getting better now at multi-institutional studies, and they're starting to get that knowledge, but our kids are the ones that are teaching the doctors. Wouldn't you say Monique? 

Monique Kemp: Oh, absolutely, Anna. Absolutely. I remember when Daniel was baby in ICU, he actually wrote his own medical book because the things that was happening to him, they never had it recorded.

Anna Jaworski: Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. So he became like a case study. 

Monique Kemp: Absolutely. 

Anna Jaworski: Wow. You've been living with CHD for the last 14 years and you have helped people in two different continents. So if you could change one [00:31:00] thing about how CHD is addressed globally, what would it be? 

Monique Kemp: To become one voice, Anna.

Anna Jaworski: Yes. 

Monique Kemp: Slowly we need to become one voice. 

Anna Jaworski: Yes, 

Monique Kemp: it's slowly happening, but I really wish that our voices will become number one, just like CHD is the number one birth defect. so for me , it's really to be one voice. 

Anna Jaworski: I love that. Yes. That's wonderful. What role does Heart of Hope Cape Town or Heart of Hope CT, as you call it, play in supporting parents and what impact have you seen over the years with your support group? 

Monique Kemp: For me, my support group was mainly for parents because I could see the lack there was at hospitals. It was just 14 years ago when I heard of congenital heart disease, and yet it's been around for quite some time so for many of these parents who come, it's the first time they hear of congenital heart [00:32:00] disease. So the impact that I would love my support group to have is to make parents know that they can believe in themselves, and that although this journey is the new normal, that they allow to grow with the CHD journey and not allow the journey to overtake them.

Anna Jaworski: I love that. I love that. What you're really doing is providing that mental support and that emotional support that the families need. 

Monique Kemp: Yes, Anna, I'm really trying to do that most of the time. It's a very hard job most times because I think when parents look at their babies and they're helpless, their faith is really shaken and they don't really want to believe in anything.

So if I can change that for one mother or one set of parents, then my job is done.

Anna Jaworski: I love that. 

 You have inspired me, Monique. I can't believe [00:33:00] it's time to conclude this show already, but my producer, Raadhiyah Matthews is telling me that our time is up so I'd like to thank Raadhiyah for being my producer today, but Monique, I especially would like to thank you for coming on the program today and sharing your experiences and advice with us. 

Monique Kemp: Thank you for having me, Anna. I really enjoyed talking with you today. 

Anna Jaworski: I have enjoyed it tremendously. Friends, that does conclude this episode of Heart to Heart with Anna.

Thanks for listening today. Please leave a review of our podcast on whatever platform you're using to listen. This helps others in the CHD community know about the podcast. Have a great week, and remember my friends, you are not alone. [00:34:00]