Update On Abigail's Heart

A couple of weeks ago, Abigail had her regular cardiologist checkup appointment. We knew this would probably be a big appointment because her cardiologist had warned us that we would most likely be discussing surgery. We knew the day was coming near, but it still didn't make it any easier to hear the news.

When we first learned about Abigail's heart condition, they told us that she would need open heart surgery. It is something that has been on our minds every.single.day since we found out. Colin and I knew that it was not something that would "fix itself" on it's own, but for some reason, we still held out hope that the hole would close and the tear would heal. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Abigail's echocardiogram showed that her condition had not changed. Her cardiologist told us that he would bring her case up to the surgery team the following day and then give us a call to let us know what they decided. We received a call two days later saying that everyone was in agreement that she needed surgery and that now was a good time. The next step was to set up an appointment to meet her cardiac surgeon.

Colin and I had already picked Abigail's surgeon several months ago after doing a lot of research. His name is Dr. Irving Shen. He is the lead pediatric Cardiac Surgeon at Fairfax Hospital, one of the top hospitals, if not #1. He comes highly recommended from several doctors. Many of the doctors have commented that this is the doctor they would want to operate on their child if they needed open heart surgery.

We met Dr. Shen on Thursday to discuss the surgery, answer any questions and set a date. We REALLY liked Dr. Shen. He has such a calming presence, which I don't think we realized was so important in this situation. He spent a lot of time with us, allowing us to ask as many questions as we wanted.

Abigail's surgery has been set for April 22nd. The surgery (not including prep...) will be about 2 1/2-3 1/2 hours. Abigail has an Atrial Septal Defect and a Mitral Valve tear, which basically means that Abigail has a hole between two of her heart chambers and a tear in one of her heart valves. Both of these issues cause blood to go where it is not supposed to go. During the surgery, Dr. Shen and his team will take part of Abigail's Pericardia tissue to be used as a patch to cover the hole and then they will sew up the tear in the Mitral Valve. About an hour following the surgery, Dr. Shen will come and talk to us and then after about another hour, we will be allowed to go see our baby.

Abigail will be in the hospital for 3-10 days, depending on her recovery. Abigail's cardiologist said to expect to be in the PICU about a week. Colin and I are allowed to stay with her the whole time, which was extremely important to us and something we were worried that we wouldn't be able to do.

Dr. Shen and her cardiologist are confident in a full recovery and expect Abigail to live a very normal life following the surgery. They are hoping for just this one surgery, but Abigail will have another echocardiogram following surgery (and many more) to make sure that they have repaired the hole and tear and that there are no other issues that need to be addressed.

Colin and I are obviously very anxious and nervous about the surgery. Abigail is our baby. We love her more than words can describe. We have been very blessed to have been able to wait as long as we have for Abigail to have the surgery. We have an excellent team of doctors taking part in Abigail's care. Most importantly, we have faith that God will watch over our little love and keep her safe and healthy.

We appreciate all of the love and support that we have received from everyone. It truly means a lot to us. If you have any questions, we are happy to answer them the best we can so feel free to ask. We ask that you would please continue to keep Abigail in your thoughts and prayers.