Welcome to Living Healthy Chicago.
Today we're started off with a story
about the power of positivity.
Let's meet a young man who says having
a positive mental attitude made all the difference
in helping him through treatment
for congenital heart disease.
Christopher Canaday's fight for heart health
began when he was born.
- He was born with pulmonary atresia.
Essentially, he had half of a working heart.
- All the chambers weren't working properly,
so the left side of the heart
was pretty much a flap of skin.
I had a pacemaker defibrillator put in.
- Christopher was born
with essentially abnormal plumbing
in his heart called tricuspid atresia.
It's lumped under the term congenital heart disease.
One of the main pumping chambers of his heart
was underdeveloped.
It's a very problematic diagnosis.
Typically abnormal heart rhythm and also fluid congestion
can build up and it can start to impact your liver,
your kidneys, things like that.
And then just overall energy is less than
would be desirable.
- [Jane] As a child,
Christopher underwent multiple procedures,
including open heart surgery.
But as he got older the impact of his heart issues
began to catch up with him.
- Middle school is when he really started deteriorating,
where he was on oxygen.
- Energy was down, no endurance
and just the heart rate would just pop up so fast.
It was definitely hard cause walking was hard.
Going up the stairs, couldn't do that.
- Child grows into adulthood
as a more normal size adult body,
the demands are more.
So there is only so much that that one chamber can do.
- [Jane] Because his health was declining quickly,
Christopher's medical team determined
he would need a new heart.
- I was so excited.
I was ready for that.
I was definitely ready to put this behind me.
- It's a lot to process.
We knew he was in heart failure.
- [Jane] Christopher's surgery was ultimately a success
and even brought some immediate changes when he woke up.
- It was amazing.
I felt a difference right away.
Like I could see a lot clearer.
I could hear better.
I could feel my heart pumping.
Before, I couldn't.
It was just so weak.
- He's doing great and looks good.
Their energy levels really get a lot higher.
And they feel like doing a lot of stuff
that they hadn't done before.
He's got double the power that he had before.
- Stairs are getting a lot easier now.
Walking's better.
Just everything that I couldn't do, I could do better now.
It just feels great.
- [Jane] Christopher says the support of his family
and friends helped him remain optimistic
despite the challenges he faced on the road to health.
- I don't think I could have done it without them.
I always try to think of the positive thing.
I just kept on thinking, it's gonna get better.
It's gonna feel great.
- He's always had that incredible
go with the flow kind of attitude.
Makes the most of every day.
He's just got that amazing spirit about him.
- [Jane] Both Christopher and his mom
hope that their experiences will give hope to others
dealing with a serious diagnosis
and encourage them to stay positive as well.
- Always have a positive attitude, even at its hardest
let those around you help you through it.
Try to make the most of every day.
That's what makes the day better.
- You have to stay positive in those situations.
You might feel bad now
but hopefully soon
it will get all better.
Just stay positive and just keep going.
Or just keep swimming.
Yeah, mom always does that.
Just keep swimming.