Sometimes life just isn't fair

[her209]

I have a VSD. Had it since a baby. My heart doesn't make a thumping sound, but a squishing sound because of the shunt. I just have to have regular echo-cardiograms to make sure the hole isn't getting bigger. Best of luck.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

My youngest granddaughter had the same issue. She was turning blue and losing weight. She had the operation at 3 months. She's 4 years old now and shows no signs of heart distress. I'm sure you're going through a lot of distress yourself, but these heart operations can do wonders and it's much better to have caught this now than have it linger, hidden for years and then cause an attack.

Sorry for the crappy cellphone pic, but there she is on the left:

Thanks. I'm glad your daughter is doing so well. She is a cutie!

The more I learn about this issue and how other people's kids have come through it, the better I am starting to feel. Having this happen to my child is still horrible, but at least the prognosis is somewhat good.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I have a VSD. Had it since a baby. My heart doesn't make a thumping sound, but a squishing sound because of the shunt. I just have to have regular echo-cardiograms to make sure the hole isn't getting bigger. Best of luck.

Yeah, my understanding is that there are many people with VSD's walking around. The issue here is not that my daughter has one, but rather the size of it. As I understand it, her VSD is so large that there is little to no division between the left and right ventricles. Right now, she is ok because the pressures on both sides of the heart are somewhat equal, so relatively little blood from the left side of her heart is returning to the right side through the VSD. But as she grows, the left ventricle will naturally get stronger than the right. This will cause a pressure differential between the left and right, pushing blood from the left ventricle into the right ventricle, and ultimately back into the lungs. That's when the fun starts.

As a scientist, I am amazed that this issue is effectively a fluid dynamics problem. As a father, I feel somewhat guilty that I am so fascinated with the technical problems caused by the defect.

 

[highland145]

Wishing you and yours the best.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

My sister had a heart murmur (not the same severity, but a whole in the heart none-the-less.) The thing about holes in the heart is that they stay the same size (or get smaller) as the child grows...which means that they become less severe over time. 7mm is pretty big, though. Still, you might get lucky and the whole might take care of itself. Stranger things have happened.

As a man who just learned that my wife is pregnant with our first child, I dread that there might be something wrong with it. I hope that your baby girl is OK.

Congrats on your wife's pregnancy. Being a parent is one of the great adventures in life. And for all the stress it causes, I would never ever give up being a father. It is very hard to describe in words the attachment that forms between a parent and child. Its a bit like the attachment someone might have with a family pet, only about 1e9 times stronger.

Enjoy the pregnancy and your child when he/she is born. There will be some "oh sh!t" moments for sure. But you and your wife will get through them.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Very sorry to hear - try and stay positive! The biggest thing is to understand your options. The hardest part is feeling helpless while you wait and wonder.

This times a million. As my wife will tell you, I am a "fixer." When I am confronted with a problem, I do whatever I can to fix it immediately. I never wait and see.

Well, this time I can't do anything except wait and see. It is extremely frustrating.

 

[silverpig]

Kind of puts the backyard remodeling project into perspective doesn't it?

I hope your daughter's condition turns out well.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Kind of puts the backyard remodeling project into perspective doesn't it?

I hope your daughter's condition turns out well.

Oh yeah. I really couldn't give rats a$$ about it anymore, despite the fact that it too is a huge issue. I'll post about it sometime once the admin procedure moves forward a bit. I don't want to post about it yet in the off chance that I might piss off one of the government officials who will be hearing my case.

 

[skyking]

My wife just confirmed/added to emaN resU's post.
She purchases for several OR's, and they do a couple of these operations a week. Children's in Seattle does far more.

 

[bigrash]

She's beautiful. I wish her all the best dude. She'll be fine.

 

[sixone]

What a beautiful little girl. Life isn't fair at all.

 

[SunnyD]

The bright side would be if your daughter was actually a boy, then years down the line he'd be talking to his friends going "Yeah dawg... I had OPEN HEART SURGERY when I was little. Beat that!"

Sorry man... sounds like your day went to shit in a hurry. Best wishes.

 

[Darkstar757]

As a father I can only imagine you pain. I am praying for you and your family brother. I know things will get better. Just continue to be strong.

 

[notposting]

Will be praying for you and your ladies. Try to stay calm and follow up on some of the advice given here (aka shopping around for experienced docs) and give that little girl plenty of affection so she can get bigger and stronger for the operation. Is she your first kid? Post in here if you have other (like, general newborn) problems as well, plenty of parents in here. Our little boy is 18 months old now, feels like its been forever and the hurdles keep coming

edit: saw you said about being a fixer, doer, etc....making sure you find the best doc and doing your background research on the condition and alternatives is something to do for sure.

 

[Krazy4Real]

Good luck. I hope everything works out ok in the end.

 

[Markbnj]

My sister had a heart murmur (not the same severity, but a whole in the heart none-the-less.) The thing about holes in the heart is that they stay the same size (or get smaller) as the child grows...which means that they become less severe over time. 7mm is pretty big, though. Still, you might get lucky and the whole might take care of itself. Stranger things have happened.

As a man who just learned that my wife is pregnant with our first child, I dread that there might be something wrong with it. I hope that your baby girl is OK.

My wife and I have had three, and you'll experience that dread every time. Then when they are born you'll consume yourself with worry over all the bad things that can happen to them. I asked my Dad at what age you get over that, and he said "I still worry about you." I was about 42 at the time.

OP, keep your chin up. The good thing is you know about it, and the docs know about it, and they will take care of her.

 

[Zeze]

Ah jesus fvcking christ. I wish you all the best with your daughter.

 

[maziwanka]

im really sorry to hear about this, OP. I hope everything turns out well though. Please keep us posted.

 

[rivan]

Keep your chin up, dude. You've got access to some of the finest care in the world - I'm certain that beautiful kid of yours will be just fine :thumbsup:

 

[nanette1985]

This runs in my family. My baby sister had this - she had one of the first surgeries of this kind back in 1955. She's fine now. She was sick all the time growing up - she caught every bug that was going around. But once she got out of school she's been in excellent health.

Many of my cousins and my cousin's children have been through this. You're lucky that they didn't try to do pre-birth surgery. Seems to be popular these days, but not as successful. The general recommendation to find a surgeon is to ask the surgeon how many of these operations he's done and go for the most. Best to you and the wife. I'll send some prayers and good vibes your way.

 

[drum]

This thread should help somewhat. My son was born 2.5 months early last August at 2 pounds and the hospital staff, friends, and coworkers recanted similar experiences they had with early/lightweight births and it helped us. So far so good. Good luck to your family.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

At least you can afford it.

 

[PingSpike]

Sorry to hear about this. I guess I'd focus on the good news about this, that being that it seems like its a fairly common surgery and it should be correctable. Still, I can only imagine the worry. My thoughts are with you. Our little one is due in July and I already worry about her all the time...it occurred to me that I probably won't ever stop worrying at this point.

 

[Platypus]

life is never fair.

good luck with your problems, we all have them.

 

[Merad]

Look on the bright side OP, your girl does have a tough problem, but at least they know what it is and have good options for treating it.

My cousin is stuck in the position of having a 2 month old who can barely control his own muscles, and they still don't know WTF the problem is much less how or even if they can treat it.