2024 Top Ten "Heart to Heart with Anna" Episodes & More!

Can an unexpected adventure in Kraków teach you about resilience and support? Join me, Anna Jaworski, as I recount a thrilling axe-throwing escapade with my husband, Frank, which became an unexpected metaphor for our family's journey with our courageous daughter, Hope, who battles a congenital heart defect. In this episode of Heart to Heart with Anna, we spotlight the power of belief and community support, drawing parallels between personal adventures and the challenges of raising a child with CHD. Dive into the exciting plans for Heart Month, where Mended Little Hearts takes center stage with the "Rock your Scar" photo contest and the "Share your HeArt" art competition, igniting awareness and solidarity within the CHD community.

Our journey doesn't stop there. Reflecting on the Top Ten Episodes of 2024, discover the inspiring stories of resilience and advocacy from amazing individuals. Hear about Hope's passion for writing and the unwavering strength of heart moms like Rita Scoggins. Be inspired by advocates such as Deanna Altomara and Meagan Houpt, who continue to break barriers. Celebrate fitness and perseverance with Ben Johnson's triumph over tetralogy of Fallot, and witness Marina Lohri's transformation from survivor to heart community supporter. This episode serves as both a heartfelt reflection and an exciting preview of what's to come on Heart to Heart with Anna in 2025.

Top Ten Episodes:
#10 https://tinyurl.com/H2HAnna446
#9 https://tinyurl.com/H2HandChapter1
#8 https://tinyurl.com/H2HwAnna431
#7 https://tinyurl.com/H2HwAnna442
#6 https://tinyurl.com/H2HMeaganHouptCh3and4
#5 https://tinyurl.com/H2HwAnna444
#4 https://tinyurl.com/H2HwAnnaE434
#3 https://tinyurl.com/H2HwAnna466
#2 https://tinyurl.com/H2HwAnna443
#1 https://tinyurl.com/MarinaLohri

Link to Mended Little Hearts Heart Month Activities: https://tinyurl.com/MLHFeb2024

Chapters

• 0:00 H2HwAnna January 7, 2025 episode
• 5:34 1st Break
• 10:05 2nd Break

Transcript

Anna Jaworski  0:00  
We're doing things a little differently in 2025.

Welcome to "Heart to Heart with Anna." I am Anna Jaworski and a heart mom to Hope, my 30-year-old, amazing daughter. It's 2025 and I'm shaking things up on the podcast. We're doing things a little differently in 2025. In this episode, in segment one, I'm going to share a personal story and some news. Then we're going to talk about what the episodes of 2024 looked like, and in the last segment, I'm going to share the Top 10 Episodes for 2024 and what you can look forward to from "Heart to Heart with Anna" in 2025. 

Let me tell you about the most unexpected adventure Frank and I had in Krakow the first and second week of December 2024--a trip that proved you're never too old to surprise yourself. Picture this: central Texas meets Polish winter with me bundled up in a coat, hat and scarf, while my husband ditched the winter coat in favor of a black hoodie--wandering through Krakow's magical Christmas market. I loved the enormous tree full of lights in the town center. The music that wafted through the air, surprisingly, almost all American music in English, set the tone and had Frank and me humming or singing along between bites of cranberry-topped cheese treats and Frank's massive Polish sausage, which put our Texas kielbasa to shame. 

I had a wild idea brewing. Forget about the horse drawn carriages. Anyone can ride on them! Where's the adventure in that? Now I'm not typically an adrenaline junkie. The most exciting thing I usually do is find new plants for my garden, or treat black spot on my roses. During this trip, however, I wanted to do something different. Enter the GetYourGuide app and an activity that made Frank's eyebrows shoot straight up. Krakow: Shurikens, Kunais, Knives, Tomahawks, Axes, Shooting. Me? Never shot a real gun. Me? Throwing an ax? Absolutely laughable. 

But here's the thing about life--and living with a loved one with a congealed heart defect--sometimes you've gotta lean into the unexpected. Sometimes you find yourself walking with your husband of 38 years to Axe Mate Club, wearing the obligatory closed-toed shoes (who wouldn't in December in Krakow?). 

After our safety class, our instructor wet the wooden targets, giving us novices a fighting chance. And friends, I didn't just participate, I conquered! Ninja stars stuck perfectly. Axes, found their mark (or at least hit the target somewhere) and I discovered a hidden talent for looking absolutely ridiculous while being surprisingly competent. 

Frank, watched equal parts amused and impressed. We didn't keep score--hitting the target at all was our version of winning. 

The real lesson? Sometimes pushing your boundaries looks like throwing an axe in a foreign country. Sometimes it's about proving to yourself that you're capable of more than you imagine. Just like supporting Hope through her heart condition, it's about creating an environment where she knows we believe in her more than she might believe in herself. We're always here to help her aim true, even when the target seems challenging, and if we can, we'll wrt the target for her to aid in her success. 

The second change we're making to "Heart to Heart with Anna" is we're going to talk about some news in the CHD community. It's a brand new year, and I know that a lot of organizations are already looking to next month--Heart Month. What do you have planned for Heart Month? Well, Mended Little Hearts has a variety of activities planned. I'll put the link in the show notes, but suffice to say, you can be prepared for some of the same fun activities they've always had and something new. There's a Rock Your Scar photo contest. I always love seeing people submit their photos to help others have a picture of what living with CHD means in a positive way. 

This year, Mended Little Hearts created a video that you can share with family and friends, so even if you're shy about taking a photo and entering the contest, you can still help spread awareness of the number one birth defect, congenital heart defects. 

Another fun competition they're hosting this year is the Share Your HeART Art Competition. The winner of the competition will have their artwork gracing the bravery Bay. The organization gives to families in the hospital. 

Finally, I believe Mended Little Hearts does a wonderful job of acknowledging how devastating living with a CHD can be. Sadly, not everyone with a heart defect lives the long life we dream of as parents. On February 11, 2025, at 7 p.m. in your time zone, you can light a candle in remembrance of a loved one with a heart defect who has died. Together, we can share a little light to remember and to honor those whose lights remain forever in our hearts and minds. 

Disclaimer  5:34  
This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The opinions expressed in the podcast are not those of Hearts Unite the Globe, but of the hosts and guests, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to congenital heart disease or bereavement. 

Anna Jaworski  5:54  
So here we are in January 2025 looking back at the 2024 "Heart to Heart with Anna" season. If I had to summarize it in one word, I guess it would have to be 'books.' You'll see what I mean in a moment. Today, I'd like to talk more about some of the engaging episodes I had in 2024.

Megan Tones and I co-edited a book called "The Heart of a Heart Warrior," and we took turns reading all three volumes of the book so everyone would have a chance to hear it. I loved taking turns with Megan reading the book. We spent four years working with dozens of authors to compile this unique series. Reading the book with Megan brought this book to life in a whole new way for me. 

I also interviewed authors, Deanna Altomara, James Robinson and Amelia Woods, and we got to know more about their books. Authors who contributed to a number of Baby Hearts Press books were also guests throughout the year, including Hope Jaworski, Megan Tones, Rita Scoggins, Frank Jaworski, Kimberly Russell, Gwenyth Murphy and Tracie Salgado. It was fun to catch up with them and hear about their new experiences--such as Rita, sharing stories about raising a child with a CHD to adulthood, and then having a granddaughter diagnosed with a CHD requiring open-heart surgery when she was a teen. 

As is customary, I spoke to some Heart Moms and Dads, and we talked about everything from raising a child with a CHD to adulthood, to how we handle the holidays with a chronically ill child, to find new resources to help you feel less alone. I had so much fun talking with Ellen Boyer and Kelsi Rogers that we had back-to-back episodes with both Heart Moms and learned more about Down Syndrome and CHD and electrical problems in the hearts of CHD babies, respectively. 

I loved talking with adults with CHDs. We talked about adoption, discovering a CHD at the age of 65 with Jeff Holden, and even discovering a connection between heart block and myotonic dystrophy with Gwenyth Murphy. The importance of exercise to stay fit, both physically and mentally, was an episode I did with Ben Johnson, and I loved how Deanna Altomara used her own life experience to help children living with CHD who also have learning disabilities. As always, I love talking to my own adult child, and we'll talk more about that in the next segment. 

I love learning more about functional medicine with Toastmaster friends Dr. Valerie Chavez and Ryan Hunter. It was so great to reunite with Dr. Dawn Ilardi and learn some new things about the brain-heart connection. 

Something very exciting to me was two shows in 2024 which I hope will start a trend in 2025 for us to have more multilingual shows. I interviewed Raadhiyah Matthews in English, but there are plans in 2025 to record an interview in Afrikaans. We recorded an episode in English with Marina Lohri, but we'll be releasing an interview with Marina in German in 2025. 

Perhaps one of the most exciting episodes for me to conduct in 2024 was with Dr. Timothy Nelson, Heart Warrior, Rachael Gott and Heart Mom, Erin Borkowski. All three of them were sharing information about HeartWorks, our newest sponsor. I loved learning about what this nonprofit is doing and how it has the chance to reshape how research in the CHD space will be conducted in the future. If you'd like to be a sponsor, please reach out to me or visit our website, https://www.heartsunitetheglobe.com for more information, and if you'd like to learn more about HeartWorks, please visit https://www.webuildhearts.org. You won't be disappointed. There's a ton of information on their website, and you can even do a virtual tour of their facility. 

Are you curious about what shows made the Top 10? Well, stay tuned. That's coming up in just a moment.

HUG Message  10:10  
"Heart to Heart with Anna" is a presentation of Hearts Unite the Globe, and is part of the HUG Podcast Network. Hearts Unite the Globe is a nonprofit organization devoted to providing resources to the congenital heart defect community to uplift, empower and enrich the lives of our community members. If you would like access to free resources pertaining to the CHD community, please visit our website at www.congenitalheartdefects.com for information about CHD, the hospitals that treat children with CHD, summer camps for CHD survivors and much, much more.

Anna Jaworski  10:49  
Last year I only announced the top five shows for the year, but this year, I thought it would be fun to announce the Top 10. I'll put links to the top 10 shows in the show notes so you can listen to them when you're taking down your Christmas decorations, or staying warm and cozy inside while the weather is bad outside, or if you're in the other hemisphere, while you stay cool and it's hot outside. Here we go. 

The Top Ten 2024 "Heart to Heart with Anna" episodes: 

#10: The Courageous Chronicle of Hope: From Heart Surgery to Self-Discovery. This show featured my daughter Hope, and we really got to know her in a whole new way. She opened up about growing up and living with a congenital heart defect, and we heard about her goal and passion for writing. We also heard about how she's living her best life, and how that has meant making some unexpected changes. 

#9: Threads of Resilience Sewn by Heart Moms and Their Children with CHDs. I loved chatting with long-time friend, Rita Scoggins, in this episode where we discussed the emotional toll of raising a child with a CHD to adulthood. I love how positive Rita always remains, even when discovering her granddaughter had a heart condition as a young adult. This was also the episode where my co-editor, Megan Tones and I took turns reading Chapter One from "The Heart of a Heart Warrior." 

#8: Uniting Hearts: A Decade of Hope, Support and Volunteerism. Last year's first January episode started out by me sharing the Top Five shows of 2023 and a history of the podcast. We shared how people worked with the nonprofit and the roles Volunteers can take in producing the podcasts. I don't do many solo shows, so I really appreciate how this solo show was actually #8 on the charts for 2024. 

#7: An author for CHD Adults with Learning Disabilities, featuring Deanna Altomara. Remember how I said we could describe 2024 as a season of books? The episode that came in seventh featured Deanna Altomara, an adult with a CHD who wrote a book with her cousin in mind. I loved how she shared the impetus behind her authorship and how she honored her cousin by not making the book babyish, but rather by writing something meaningful to her on her level. This is also the episode where Megan and I started reading Chapter Seven from "The Heart of a Heart Warrior" after the interview. 

#6: Embracing the Heartbeat of Motherhood: Meagan Houpt's Adoption Journey. Who doesn't absolutely love Meagan Houpt and her precious story of adoption? It is one of themost heartwarming episodes of 2024. I loved Meagan's honesty and sharing with us about her adoption journey. This episode also featured Megan Tones and me reading the second half of Chapter Three and Chapter Four of "The Heart of a Heart Warrior." 

#5: Navigating the Emotional Landscape of Raising Children with Congenital Heart Defects. Kelsi Rogers and I had so much fun chatting that I had to have her back for a second episode in 2024. Her first interview with me was the fifth most-listened-to episode of 2024. In this episode, her first interview with me, we talked about the mental health of Heart Moms, the gap in CHD research funding, and we looked to the future regarding in-utero solutions and nonprofits like HeartWorks. 

#4: Heart Month News, February 2024 and an Audiobook Surprise. I was surprised to see that our number four episode for 2024 was another solo episode! To open Heart Month 2024, I shared news about our special month, and I started reading from my newest book,"The Heart of a Heart Warrior." I loved having the opportunity to open Heart Month by actually reading from the book, which included Becca Atherton's touching poem, 'I Am a Miracle Child' and ACHDer and clinical social worker, Dr. Corinne Smorra's moving Foreward. A lot of times, people will skip over the front matter in books, and I think that's a pity. I am a bibliophile. I devour books, and I loved having a chance to bring the front matter of the book to light so that everybody could have a chance to be inspired by every aspect of the book. 

Now we're down to the top three shows! 

#3: Fit and Fearless: Defying Limits with Tetralogy of Fallot. Our number three episode features Ben Johnson, a gentleman born with tetralogy of Fallot. Maybe not everyone in the CHD community knows this, but tetralogy of Fallot, or TOF, was the first congenital heart defect that was operated on and successfully managed in the 1950s. Although babies born with TOF were most often called 'Blue Babies,' and they often had limited exercise tolerance, Ben Johnson took that idea and turned it on its head. I loved his dynamic interview where he not only shared the changes he made to his own life, but he also shared ways others with CHDs could improve their own physical fitness, and he even made two videos for me to share on my YouTube channel. 

The episode that had the second greatest number of listeners for 2024 was Heart Mom Kelsi Rogers on Jett's Electrical Problems with His Heart. This was the second episode in 2024 to feature Kelsi Rogers. As I mentioned earlier, Kelsi and I had such an engrossing interview. She taught me about electrical problems that could happen in very young children, and what a miracle her son Jett truly is. What surprised me most about this interview is how for the rest of 2024, I had other people reach out to me with concerns about electrical problems in babies. And thanks to Kelsi's interview, I had an episode I could share with them that could answer some of their questions. 

And the #1 episode in 2024 is From Survivor to Supporter: Marina Lohri's Tricuspid Atresia Journey in Congenital Heart Care! Our #1 episode for 2024 features an amazing young woman who, like Hope ,Deanna, Megan, Meagan, and Ben, was born with a congenital artifact. Marina Lohri's story of growing up with tricuspid atresia in Switzerland and her decision to change her career path to give back to the heart community, really resonatedwith all of you. I'm excited that later this year, we'll be featuring an episode with her sharing her story in her native tongue of German, so that our listeners who speak Germanacross the globe will be able to understand and appreciate Marina's story even more. 

Are you curious about what other episodes we have planned for 2025? I'm looking forward to welcoming back Dr. Dawn Ilardi to learn more about the brain-heart connection. I love how open she is to sharing ways we can help our Heart Warriors when it comes to cognitive function. We'll also be meeting Kate Doherty-Schmeck, the new Executive Director of Global ARCH. 

As I mentioned earlier, we're working on some foreign language episodes in multiple languages, including German, Afrikaans, Spanish and hopefully, Urdu. You all seem to really enjoy the LIVE shows, so I'll be recording more of those episodes, and they'll feature our Volunteers, our Patrons and our Sponsors. For as little as $2 a month, you can join our group of Patrons, and you can join us on our LIVE episodes, but feel free to be even more generous than that, if this spirit moves you. 

If you or your nonprofit organization is interested in sponsoring the podcast, please checkout our website for more information, or feel free to contact me about that opportunity. 

The last thing that I'm excited to announce is that once a month, we'll be listening to a former "Heart to Heart with Anna" episode in Discord together with the Guest. It'll be a fun way to revisit some shows from the past and catch up with our Guest. If you have a Discord account, you'll be able to be part of the studio audience, and you can listen with us and share your own stories or ask questions. I think this will be a fun way for us to interact with you, our listeners, and to stay in touch with guests we've had the pleasure of getting to know through the podcast. 

So that's all for this episode of "Heart to Heart with Anna." I hope you enjoyed this new format. I'm really looking forward to engaging with more of you this year. I can't wait for my Volunteers and me to put together new episodes and to catch up with some old friends. Until then, my friends, remember, you are not alone.

Conclusion  20:47  
Thank you again for joining us this week. We hope you have become inspired and empowered to become an advocate for the congenital heart community. "Heart to Heart with Anna," with your host, Anna Jaworski, can be heard at any time, wherever you get your podcasts. A new episode is released every Tuesday, from noon Eastern Time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai