Izzy's cath is done and we are now home. It went really well,
much better than last time. Her pulmonary arteries are now around
10 mm and she has flow across the pulmonary valve!!! They think she
is ready for her full fix. We don't have a date or anything yet,
but were told it will probably be within a month or so. So, I guess
we will be postponing all birthday celebrations for her.
Unfortunately, they told us one anomylous feature of her anatomy that they had not mentioned before or at least I don't remember it. Apparently, a normal heart has two decending arteries by the heart, the left and the right. The right does not branch out, but the left does. On the left, one of the branches is the LAD (also known as the widow -maker). McKenzie's LAD is smaller than it should be, but she made up for it by having an LAD on the right hand-side, which is not normal. The one on the right crosses over the heart, directly above the pulmonary valve, and connects up with the LAD on the left. The reason this is important is because it will cause an extra complication with her surgery. Normally, they cut right over the pulmonary valve to connect the pulmonary arteries to it. However, McKenzie's unique circuitry mean they cannot do that normal cut without cutting that descending artery, which would be bad. The cardiologist said the surgeons would have to decide how to address this issue, but he indicated it is likely that McKenzie will need a conduit to connect the pulmonary arteries to her heart so they can go over the additional LAD. Otherwise, they will have to go under the additional LAD to connect directly to the pulmonary valve,which would mean "scooping" out a way to do so. (Those are the words of the doctor.) If a conduit is used, then the number of surgeries she will need after this one increases because the conduit will not grow with her. Obviously, the decision has not been made yet since all of the necessary doctors have not looked at the outcome. To get more information for the surgeons to work from, they also did an echocardiogram after the cath. McKenzie did well through all of it. She is a real champ.
Thank you all for your warm wishes, love, cards, hugs, being there for us, work toward raising CHD Awareness this week, and most especially, taking our precious baby into your heart. It means so much to us to know so many people care. Thank you also to Courtney for driving through the night to be with us today. You are the best sister I could ever ask for and an amazing aunt.
Mel
Unfortunately, they told us one anomylous feature of her anatomy that they had not mentioned before or at least I don't remember it. Apparently, a normal heart has two decending arteries by the heart, the left and the right. The right does not branch out, but the left does. On the left, one of the branches is the LAD (also known as the widow -maker). McKenzie's LAD is smaller than it should be, but she made up for it by having an LAD on the right hand-side, which is not normal. The one on the right crosses over the heart, directly above the pulmonary valve, and connects up with the LAD on the left. The reason this is important is because it will cause an extra complication with her surgery. Normally, they cut right over the pulmonary valve to connect the pulmonary arteries to it. However, McKenzie's unique circuitry mean they cannot do that normal cut without cutting that descending artery, which would be bad. The cardiologist said the surgeons would have to decide how to address this issue, but he indicated it is likely that McKenzie will need a conduit to connect the pulmonary arteries to her heart so they can go over the additional LAD. Otherwise, they will have to go under the additional LAD to connect directly to the pulmonary valve,which would mean "scooping" out a way to do so. (Those are the words of the doctor.) If a conduit is used, then the number of surgeries she will need after this one increases because the conduit will not grow with her. Obviously, the decision has not been made yet since all of the necessary doctors have not looked at the outcome. To get more information for the surgeons to work from, they also did an echocardiogram after the cath. McKenzie did well through all of it. She is a real champ.
Thank you all for your warm wishes, love, cards, hugs, being there for us, work toward raising CHD Awareness this week, and most especially, taking our precious baby into your heart. It means so much to us to know so many people care. Thank you also to Courtney for driving through the night to be with us today. You are the best sister I could ever ask for and an amazing aunt.
Mel
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