Sick Kids & Mt. Sinai 35 Week Appointments
Yesterday was a long day, we had our echocardiogram for 10:30am and then Mt. Sinai was in the afternoon, it pretty much took the whole day.
At the echo, Dr. Jaeggi told us that there wasn't any significant change; however, the one good thing that we heard was that baby's aorta is small but not narrowing. It's not a big change, but at a time like this, any bit of good news is comforting.
We have agreed to do an MRI as part of a Sick Kids research study; I have the appt. for this Thursday. It's not mandatory, but the way we see it it's more info available to the doctors the better prepared they can be to operate and provide solutions. There's no harm to baby or oneself during the MRI procedure.
Since we opted for the three step surgery, we were told that we cannot be on the heart transplant list. Not sure if you knew this already, but once you have made up your mind on surgery, you can't have a back-up of a heart transplant. I thought we could, in case baby was not coping well after surgery, but it's either surgery or transplant not both. Though if the baby is not doing well during or after the surgery they will put him/her on the transplant list at a higher level (given the seriousness of the condition) which is reassuring news.
We also met with a social worker, Kim Thompson. Kim took us for the Sick Kids tour; she showed us the ICU room where baby will be after surgery, the step down room and the private room. She discussed visiting timings, etc. I was told that no children under 12 were allowed in the ICU room, but once baby is moved to the private room, a child below 12 is allowed to visit.
We saw a room with two babies and it was heart breaking, I couldn't control my emotions. I thought I was prepared from all the pics I’ve seen of children with heart conditions, but nothing prepares you for the reality. Kim told us that no matter how strong we are, there will be a lot of tears and it is expected. Kim told us it would be very hard at first but with our continuous visits we would soon get used to it.
Nel
At the echo, Dr. Jaeggi told us that there wasn't any significant change; however, the one good thing that we heard was that baby's aorta is small but not narrowing. It's not a big change, but at a time like this, any bit of good news is comforting.
We have agreed to do an MRI as part of a Sick Kids research study; I have the appt. for this Thursday. It's not mandatory, but the way we see it it's more info available to the doctors the better prepared they can be to operate and provide solutions. There's no harm to baby or oneself during the MRI procedure.
Since we opted for the three step surgery, we were told that we cannot be on the heart transplant list. Not sure if you knew this already, but once you have made up your mind on surgery, you can't have a back-up of a heart transplant. I thought we could, in case baby was not coping well after surgery, but it's either surgery or transplant not both. Though if the baby is not doing well during or after the surgery they will put him/her on the transplant list at a higher level (given the seriousness of the condition) which is reassuring news.
We also met with a social worker, Kim Thompson. Kim took us for the Sick Kids tour; she showed us the ICU room where baby will be after surgery, the step down room and the private room. She discussed visiting timings, etc. I was told that no children under 12 were allowed in the ICU room, but once baby is moved to the private room, a child below 12 is allowed to visit.
We saw a room with two babies and it was heart breaking, I couldn't control my emotions. I thought I was prepared from all the pics I’ve seen of children with heart conditions, but nothing prepares you for the reality. Kim told us that no matter how strong we are, there will be a lot of tears and it is expected. Kim told us it would be very hard at first but with our continuous visits we would soon get used to it.
Nel
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