Wednesday, 29 October 2008
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What a Difference a Year Makes!
by Mama Pig WARNING: PHOTO AT BOTTOM FOLLOWING MAJOR SURGERY! Just want to give you a heads up before you get there.
Yesterday was a big day in our family. One year ago, E went in for her open heart surgery.
At the time she weighed only 10 pounds. She was eight months old and had been in heart failure since she was four months old. I had always assumed heart failure meant immediate death, but that is not necessarily the case. For E it meant failure to thrive and being closely monitored to ensure that we knew when the right time for the repair.
I had been in the position on more than one occasion to hand my small daughter off to nurses heading to the OR, but this time was so very different. I knew that this time they would opening that tiny chest and stopping her heart for a time. I knew that in some cases, the child was unable to come off the bypass machine right away. I knew that the holes they were trying to repair would be repaired with something thinner than tissue paper. I knew that this procedure was scheduled to last for six to seven hours, but that it would seem like a lifetime. I knew that my world was being taken from my arms and that it was out of my hands if she would be returned to me. I knew what it felt like to be totally helpless and frightened.
As we all know, E came through the surgery with amazing strength. She was out in just five hours, came right off the bypass, and had the vent out the next day. She spent six days total in the hospital and then came home to begin her new life.
She will always have a "zipper" on her chest to remind us of that day. Today she is almost twenty pounds, cruising the furniture all the time, and one of the happiest children I have ever seen. She sees the cardiologist only once a year now and seems to have had a complete recovery.
I am so thankful for the team of doctors that made it possible for our family to move forward. While it seems impossible that a year has gone by, in some ways it seems like a lifetime ago.
Happy Heart Day, E! You have come so far and we love you so much.
Then:
And now:
What a difference a year makes.
What are some of the significant things your child has gone through in the past year?
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Comments (13)
Nothing that drastic! Wow! I'm so glad that your little one pulled through and is a happy healthy girl now! She's beautiful!
I guess the biggest things with my daughter have been respiratory illnesses - she had bronchitis, RSV and pneumonia all in her first year! Lots of ER visits and scary nights of labored breathing.
With my son - I guess potty-training - he's three and potty-training has been a struggle and an adventure!
This past year I had a similar experience with my son. In May (Mother's Day weekend) I found out he had a heart defect. It's called Vascular Ring. They didn't do a mid-sternum cut. Instead they went in under the left shoulder blade. It broke my heart when I had to hand my 3 month old baby over to the OR nurse. When I first saw him after surgery in the PICU it hurt to see him hooked up to so many moniters, chest tubes and IV sites. He was breathing on his own and nasal cannula. When he moaned I cried for him. He was discharged 2 days after surgery. Now he's a very healthy 9 month old. He has been discharged from the Cardiology team at Duke.
RSV is not fun. We were lucky that E didn't contract that, we had another heart friend that did and ended up in the hospital for ten days.
I too was potty training my son during this time. It was indeed an adventure, but he finally got the idea. Well, most of the time he gets the idea.
Hope that you have a better year ahead of you with no illnesses.
@DWLsMommy_05@xanga - So happy to hear he is doing well. It is the most frightening experience of your life, but thankfully there are doctors that can and do work miracles. Oh, and I totally can't forget the amazing nurses that helped me get through the rough days. They were my angels.
@mamapig - Yeah the nurses that took care of H were awesome. We are in contact all the time through Myspace. He was in the hospital for a total of 8 days (his surgery was post-poned twice). When he was in the PICU I never had to buzz to get in. His nurses told me that I could just walk back anytime I want. They explained everything. H was in a pain study. So he had an extra doctor and an extra nurse that was with him 24/7. He had a constant level of Daladid in his system. Looking at him now--you would never know the ordeal he has been through. His incisions has healed up nicely.
God Bless!!
I had holes repaired when i was 5 and im currently waiting for major open heart surgery (in 4 - 6 weeks).
At the moment I have heart failure too.
It was really great reading your post.
I hope you will write more about it.
@MiSS__InSomnia@xanga - Sending hugs your way. I know how scary this time is for anyone involved.
Trust me, this is one of my most discussed topics. I sometimes fear people don't want to read about the difficult things so I am glad to hear you aren't disturbed by my choice of subject matter.
I'm glad that E is doing well. My son did not go through anything that big. I think that the biggest thing that happened to him was he met his father for the first time. I know he was only 8 months old and so it doesn't seem like that big of a deal but his father was not there for any for my pregnancy or anything. I know that it is not serious like open heart surgery but to me it was a big thing.
Congratulations on a healthy little girl! I've got two (1 boy, 1 girl) with clubfoot - now well corrected. We've had our share of surgeries - certainly nothing to compare with what you guys have been through, but reading your post brought back vivdly the feeling of watching a stranger walk away with my baby - and the horrible feeling of signing that one release that says you understand that there is that small chance that the anesthesia will be permanent. How thankful I am that that chapter in our lives is through. Enjoying breathing easier now, and hoping you are to!
@AnnetteK@xanga - That is a huge thing. I can't imagine what that must have been like for you. Hope all is going well with that relationship now. Thank you for sharing.
@Meahsmom@xanga - I too am so thankful that we are past that. We are indeed breathing easier and I am glad you are as well.
I'm so happy for you that she is thriving now. That's something no parent should have to go through...
We haven't gone through anything that huge, and every day, I am grateful for the happy, healthy child that we have. Our son did have to stay in the hospital for a week after birth, and he had to have an IV, because they thought he might have an infection - I still don't like to look at the pictures of him with the IV in his temple (he had one in his little hand first, but he janked it out... eeek). It turned out, when they got the blood cultures back, that he was fine, but it was not something you want to go through right after you've given birth...
Then, when he was about 9 days old, I was lying down breastfeeding him, and he suddenly choked and went completely limp. I immediately sat up (nearly ripped my newly healed lady parts in the process..), liteerally THREW him over my shoulder and screamed for my husband to come. He started breathing again right away, but those were the scariest 5 seconds I've ever experienced.... He was fine by the time my husband ran into the room, but that's when I fully realized what it's like to be a parent. *sigh*
Anyway... So glad the scary stuff is all over for you. Enjoy your beautiful girl!
My son hasn't had to have anything significant this last year. My godson who is 4 had corrective surgery for cleft lip/ cleft palate when he was less than a year old. I remember feeling so bad for him since he was so very uncomfortable after surgery and it was so hard to console him.
Belated Happy Heart Day!