Who I Am

I was asked to write a blog telling everyone who I am. I'm no one special but my life story may help someone else so I take pride in sharing my story every chance I get.

I'll start off with the basics. My name is Krystal B. Parrish (the B. stands for Brooke) and I am barely 23 years old and a single mom of a 3 year old boy who was diagnosed with CHD (Congenital Heart Disease) shortly before he turned 3 months old. I am also proud to be an American, even with all the governmental chaos these days, because I was raised to know what our country once was. Ronald Reagan was the president when I came into this world (and coincidentally he died 2 days before my 16th birthday) and I lived the majority of my life under President George W. Bush. As you could probably tell from my last, and first, post on the Palin Promotions Blog, I am a huge fan of Mrs. Palin. Not like stalker fan, that would be weird, but she definitely has all of my support and I would be blessed if I were to meet her one day.

Now, on to our story, which is a big part of who I am. Just 3 years and 6 short days ago, I was sitting in a Texas Children's Cardiology Office in Cy-Fair and hearing news from a complete stranger. News that made me ill, speechless, and took my breath away. My beautiful baby, as tiny as he was, was suffering from a disease that takes so many babies from their families every day. I had never heard of the disease until a couple of weeks before when Kendryck's (my son) Pediatrician informed me that my son had a distinct heart murmur. I went home and researched heart murmurs and came across the information of CHD. I saw pictures and videos of babies who had it and cried all night.

Days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months filled with Cardiology appointments, hospital stays, and lots and lots of medicine. When Kendryck was almost 6 months old, the thing I feared the most and had been denying was now the unmistakable truth. My son, my little angel, was going to have open heart surgery. I, obviously, was devastated and every night I would run my finger up and down his chest, imagining what was going to be there for the rest of his life, a large scar. I would whisper to him while he was sleeping and tell him I needed him to fight for me because I was fighting for him.

It is hard for me to put everything into a blog because there is so much to tell so I am going to skip through. Kendryck had his open heart surgery, 5 1/2 hours of it, on October 21, 2008, 4 days before he turned 7 months old. He survived and I praise God and will praise God for that for the rest of our lives. He still has 2 small holes in his heart but you can't even tell by looking at him. He has a scar on his chest that he proudly shows off, his "battle scar."

We have come far from where we were. I have a book out called, "Save His Heart," that I wrote to share our story and raise awareness for CHD. There are so many people who are still unaware that this disease even exists and I have made it my life's goal to never stop spreading the word.

Also, I have always wanted to be an author and now, because of our experiences and my book, I am writing articles for websites, magazines, a new book, and now, this blog. My son and I are tremendously blessed. I am happy to be sharing our story with everyone who is reading this. If you want to know more about us, view pictures, or purchase a copy of, "Save His Heart," check out my website at www.krystalbparrish.com. Be sure to sign the guestbook and let me know you were there! And I look forward to writing for you all more in the future. Thank you, God Bless, and Vote Palin!