Thursday, December 10, 2009

Bel's Special Heart.....



At Isobel's routine check-up last week her Doctor discovered she has a heart murmur. My first reaction was shock and worry but the doctor was reassuring and told us that murmurs are common and mostly nothing to worry about. He reffered us to the Stollery Children's hospital for an ECG and Echocardiogram on Monday to check it out. In the meantime it seemed as though everyone I spoke to either had a murmur at some point or knew somebody that did which put my mind at rest a little. So after a long afternoon of testing and waiting around I was shocked and horrified to be told that our precious little Bel has a congenital heart defect and will need open heart surgery. Even writing those words makes my chest feel tight and my stomach lurch. To say the least, I am terrified. Her condition is called an Atrial Septal Defect, basically her heart didn't form properly and she doesn't have a wall between her left and right atria. There are different degrees of this defect ranging from a small hole in the septum to no septum at all and her's is the most severe...no wall at all. It means that already oxygenated blood is flowing back into the right side of the heart and being sent back to the lungs to be oxygenated again. That side of the heart is coping with way too much blood and there is a buildup of of pressure called pulmonary hypertension. The heart defect is the reason why she's such a tiny little thing, her heart is working overtime trying to do it's job and it's just not powerful enough to help her grow properly. The only option is open heart surgery to attach a strip of material to build a wall between the atria. In most cases they wait until the child is about 2 years old before doing the surgery. In Isobel's case she is already showing signs of high pressure in her heart so she'll need to have the surgery soon before any permanent and unrepairable damage is done to her vessels and lungs. Thankfully this kind of surgery is extremely effective and in most cases the patient will never undergo another surgery. It's just unbearable to think of our little baby having to go through something like this. She is blissfully unaware of any problem and is her usual smiley, beautiful self. I can't even think about the actual surgery, if I do I start to feel panicky and usually burst into tears. I know it'll make her better and that in the long run everything will be ok but that doesn't stop me from being the most scared I've ever been about anything.....ever.
We don't have a date for surgery yet, she goes back in for a sedated Echocardiogram on the 23rd so hopefully we'll find out more then.

Here are some photo's I took this afternoon of our super special precious little Bel in all her gorgeous curly-lipped, smooshy-cheeked glory........

We love you so much Bel and we'll make sure your broken heart gets fixed.
x






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