Monday, June 26, 2006

Garfield family heart story.

On July 4, 2005 at 8:32am Addison Jacob arrived in the world; our own little firecracker. The next morning the doctor heard a slight heart murmur and sent the baby for an EKG and a chest x-ray. Later on that day he phoned us to explain that, from the results of the tests, he thought Addison had a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). We were told that this is better known as a hole in his heart. The next day we discussed the things that we needed to watch for that could mean Addison was having complications. We let everything sink in and took our “little man” home on July 6, 2005. He was watched closely by our pediatrician for 5 days until he could be seen by a Pediatric Cardiologist (PC). On July 12, 2005 the VSD was confirmed by an echocardiogram. Addison had a moderate size hole in his heart and possible stenosis in his pulmonary valve caused by the heart working harder due to the hole. However we were told that the outlook is good; most holes close on their own over time. The PC discussed with us once again all the things to watch for, trouble eating, sudden falling asleep while eating, trouble breathing, and trouble gaining weight. We returned to the PC in August when Addison was 6 weeks old. Addison was doing great he had gained a good amount of weight and had no blue spells or trouble breathing. Our next visit wasn’t going to be until November; when Addison was 4 months old. The last 2 visits had gone so well if this visit goes the same; we wouldn’t have to go back until Addison was a year old. November 3, 2005, a day we will never forget. Going to this appointment hoping for the best turned into a new diagnosis and upcoming surgery. During the echocardiogram the PC discovered that not only was there a hole in his heart and the stenosis of the pulmonary valve. He also discovered that there was a blockage and a muscle build up from the heart working so hard. It was explained to us that these four things make up Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). A CHD that needs to be repaired with open heart surgery. We were very lucky though because Addison was considered a “pink tet” and never had any complications before his repair. The problem we had was that with no complications, looking healthy and gaining lots of weight the concept of open heart surgery was hard to digest but….
Addison’s repair took place on January 3, 2006; everything was a great success with a great outlook for the rest of his life. A wonderful outcome for our “special little man!”

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