For some reason I was having serious formatting issues, so here are just a few more facts regarding the surgeries that I have learned through my research so far:
-When a baby is born, their heart is about the size of a strawberry.
-Before the first surgery, medicine is given through an IV to keep certain parts of his heart open, which would otherwise close within hours of birth.
-The Norwood is considered one of the most complex and difficult pediatric surgeries.
-Recovery time for the Norwood is at least a month.
-The few months between the Norwood and the Glenn are considered the most difficult months of life for an HLHS baby.
-The Glenn has a much quicker recovery time in general compared to the Norwood; usually about a week. Also, things are said to be easier for an HLHS baby post-Glenn.
-Following the third surgery, Will is expected to have a very good quality of life, and probably will have little to no memory of the stress and pain of his early childhood.
We never felt like Lauren was in pain. She is a very happy child with a love for life. We have always felt like she was wiser than her years, almost like she immediately knew how lucky she was to be here.
ReplyDeleteIn many cases the ductus arteriosis closes within a couple of days of birth. Dan and I think that is when we began to notice symptoms in Lauren after her birth of a heart defect: no interest in feeding, gray color, blue fingernails, heavy breathing. It's really scary to think about what would have happened if they hadn't checked her pulse ox. I think everyone should know the symptoms of a heart defect, because we didn't.