So, last week I went to Houston to Texas Children's Hospital for my yearly check up with the greatest, Dr. Wayne Franklin. I have decided to blog about my heart and my heart condition b/c so many people ask me about it and I don't think people fully understand everything about it.
When I was born in April 1985, I (what I call) had a hole in my heart. I am going to tell you about this in normal people words vs. medical terms to be more clear. The hole needed to be patched up, however, my heart was too small to operate on when I was born, so we waited until I was 18 mts. old to have the open heart surgery. Today, I am sure they could operate immediately. The hole was the size of a quarter - to put that into perspective - remember your heart is as big as your fist - so I had a tiny baby fist/heart and a pretty sizable hole. For the first 18 mts. of my life, I had trouble breathing and with the oxygen circulating to my brain. At times I would just squat down to catch my breath and I would turn blue. How horrifying for my parents - I can only imagine. But I made it just fine to 18 mts. and after Christmas 1985, I underwent my first surgery.
Here is the medical terminology on the condition:
"Tetralogy of Fallot" occurs when there is underdevelopment of the right ventricular infundibulum or conus. Ventricular septal defect, right ventricular outflow tract obstruction, right ventricular hypertrophy and overriding of the aorta are the four abnormalities classically described. Tetralogy of Fallot comprises a spectrum of severity. As the severity of right ventricular outflow tract obstruction increases, right to left shunting of blood occurs through the VSD, resulting in cyanosis. When severe right ventricular outflow tract obstruction and hypertrophy exist, hypercontractile episodes, often associated with agitation, give rise to severe right to left shunting of blood and hypercyanosis. These episodes are referred to as "tet spells". My first surgery was done in Dallas at Texas Children's. I rock a nice scar down the middle of my chest and I am ok with that. This pic you can see my scar, it really is not bad at all....
Ok, so basically they patched my heart up! And I was good to go until I was in the 1st grade. At that point, my heart was growing and the branch pulmonary arteries at the top of my heart started narrowing (stenosis). Medical terms - I had severe proximal right and left pulmonary artery stenosis. This surgery was only being done by like 2 or 3 doctor's in the US and the closest for me was in Houston, with Dr. Charles Mullins. He is my hero! I loved him. He is retired now. He ALWAYS wore cowboy boots with his black pants and white medical jacket, VERY COOL GUY! Here is a pic of me and him after my surgery in 1st grade (notice that awesome wallpaper and my awesome perm and visor!!!) and then my last visit with him when I was about 16 or 17 before he retired. This man saved my life - I mean so did the original doctors, but I really had a personal connection with Dr. Mullins.
There are talks that one day I might have to have a valve replacement, but my doctor is confident that it will not be necessary. I do not take any medications for my heart and I am heart healthy - now, I just need to get my butt in shape!
Whenever I go for my yearly appt.'s, I am not going to lie - I do get a little down and out and it sucks that I even have to deal with this stuff at all. I know that it could be SO MUCH WORSE and I see that in these hospitals. God has a plan for me and my heart and so far everything has gone beautifully. Below is a pic to show the "patch" and the stents. The arrows at the top are basically pointing at the stents and the hole, well the patch, is the black meshy looking thing on the right, lower side of the pulmonary valve. I hope this post was informative and for all you medical people - you are prob. laughing at my terms! HAHA.... I think I got it all right.
