Friday, July 02, 2010

Eek.

I just had a phonecall from one of the cardiology consultants at the
hospital here in Cardiff.
I must admit my heart missed several beats when I realised who it was
- especially because he is in charge of the paediatric pacemaker clinic.
However, he wasn't ringing about Charlie - thank goodness!
He asked me if I would speak at a medical conference in November,
highlighting the importance of antenatal diagnosis in children with
congenital heart disease.
I'll be speaking for about 15 minutes, in front of 150 delegates -
some of whom are pretty senior medical people.
This consultant is the one who diagnosed HLHS in both Will and
Charlie, and looked after me throughout my pregnancy with Charlie.
Although he isn't Charlie's regular doctor at the hospital, he's
always been keen to keep up with Charlie's progress.
He wants me to talk about both of our boys, and how knowing about
their conditions antenatally was so important.
I'll also need to produce a PowerPoint presentation with some pictures
of the two of them.
It's quite exciting - and a bit nervewracking - I won a number of
public speaking competitions in my teens, but it's been almost 20
years since I last stood up and spoke in front of a crowd.
It's a subject close to my heart though, so I imagine the hard part
will be making everything fit into just 15 minutes.
Although it's a bit scary, it's quite nice to be asked to do something
where I'll need to use my brain for a change - although I may come to
regret saying that come November!!

Sent from my iPhone

1 comment:

Ann Fisher said...

Fantastic! You'll be brilliant, and the consultant must think a lot of you to ask you, well done!
Ann
x