Sorry but this will be very short. I have strict instructions to keep this to just the facts and no random thoughts.
Ava's Echo has been moved from this coming Friday to tomorrow on Wednesday due to her having high PVC's. So hopefully everything goes well. What that means I don't know. Do you want the sweet baby girl to be home for Christmas or do you want her to get the surgery she needs as soon as possible? That is the question. Bryaden wants her to wait so she can come home and help hide magic key for Santa, so he can bring lots of toys for them to play with. I myself don't care, I just want her better which I'm sure her mom does as well. Anyways, pray for some sort of news tomorrow.
We'd like to thank our good neighbors Bill and Kelly for the offering to do anything, Kelly Best and family (Your dog is beautiful, and your mother in-law (I don't' mean beautiful although she's not bad)), Michelle and Jason, Emilly Lake and family (sorry no pictures please at Sheltons) and anyone else that has helped us during our trying times. Carol Uell is a god sent angel and we can't thank you enough for all you have done for us. You have kept our family together with your presence. There are so many people to thank it is hard to keep track of.
Thanks again to everybody
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Ava with Mommy & Daddy
Isn't she beautiful!
It's A Girl!
Hello everyone and welcome to Ava Christine's Blog.
First a little info about the new edition to our family.
This beautiful little girl comes to our family after many years of trying on her parents part as well as her being the first girl in 19 years. Yes 19 years! So to say that she is going to be a little spoiled is putting it very lightly.
Ava Christine was welcomed into this world on September 29 2007 by her mommy Jamie, Daddy Jamie, big brother Brayden, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and numerous friends. Shortly after Ava's arrival the wonderful medical staff at Memorial hospital of South Bend found what they called a murmur in Ava's heart. After some testing little Ava was transported to Motts' Children Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Jamie and Jamie were informed that little Ava has a heart defect that could be life threatening and that she needed to undergo open heart surgery to fix the defects. So, on Tuesday October 2 2007 Ava was operated on by the wonderful medical staff at the U of M. What this team of doctors did to Ava is incredible. First of all Jamie explained to me over the phone today just what problems Ava's heart has endured. Ava's heart has a couple of different problems. The first is known as Interrupted Aortic Arch. The following info about interrupted aortic arch is best explained by the U of M Cardiac website, "Interrupted aortic arch is a very rare heart defect that occurs when the aorta does not develop normally while the baby is in the mother’s womb. It comprises about 1% of all congenital heart defects. It usually occurs along with other heart problems such as truncus arteriosus, ventricular septal defect, transposition of the great arteries, and aortic stenosis.The aorta is the large blood vessel that arises from the left side of the normal heart and takes red blood out to the body. The first part of the aorta, called the ascending aorta (1) arises upwards. It then curves leftward forming the aortic arch (2). The aorta then curves downward towards the lower body, and this part is called the descending aorta (3). Three blood vessels exit from the aortic arch and supply the head and arms with red blood. These vessels are called the innominate artery (4), the left carotid artery (5), and the left subclavian artery (6).In babies with interrupted aortic arch, there is a complete blockage between the ascending and the descending aorta (1). This means that there is no direct way for red blood leaving the heart to reach the body parts that are "downstream" from the blockage. The site of the defect varies (2) and may or may not involve the take-off of the head and neck vessels. In most babies with interrupted aortic arch (70-90%) there is also a large ventricular septal defect (3).In newborns with interrupted aortic arch, the only way for blood to bypass the blockage is via the patent ductus arteriosus (4). Prior to birth, this small blood vessel permits blood to by-pass the baby’s fluid-filled lungs. One or two days after birth, this vessel usually closes on its own. In a baby with interrupted aortic arch, if the duct closes, blood can no longer reach the lower body. This can cause the baby to suddenly become very ill. Therefore, after the diagnosis is made, a medicine called prostaglandin is used to keep the ductus arteriosus open until surgery". (http://www.med.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/parint.htm)
So how did the doctors fix this? "Interrupted aortic arch is a serious heart defect that requires surgery soon after birth. The goal of surgery is to create remove the blockage. This used to be done in a two-stage operation but is now done most of the time in one stage. The two ends of the aorta are sewn together (1) and the patent ductus arterious (2) is tied off. Sometimes a patch is needed to reinforce the repair. If present, a patch is sewn over the VSD (3)". (http://www.med.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/parint.htm)
In #1 of the picture below is the part of Ava' heart that was repaired.
First a little info about the new edition to our family.
This beautiful little girl comes to our family after many years of trying on her parents part as well as her being the first girl in 19 years. Yes 19 years! So to say that she is going to be a little spoiled is putting it very lightly.
Ava Christine was welcomed into this world on September 29 2007 by her mommy Jamie, Daddy Jamie, big brother Brayden, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and numerous friends. Shortly after Ava's arrival the wonderful medical staff at Memorial hospital of South Bend found what they called a murmur in Ava's heart. After some testing little Ava was transported to Motts' Children Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Jamie and Jamie were informed that little Ava has a heart defect that could be life threatening and that she needed to undergo open heart surgery to fix the defects. So, on Tuesday October 2 2007 Ava was operated on by the wonderful medical staff at the U of M. What this team of doctors did to Ava is incredible. First of all Jamie explained to me over the phone today just what problems Ava's heart has endured. Ava's heart has a couple of different problems. The first is known as Interrupted Aortic Arch. The following info about interrupted aortic arch is best explained by the U of M Cardiac website, "Interrupted aortic arch is a very rare heart defect that occurs when the aorta does not develop normally while the baby is in the mother’s womb. It comprises about 1% of all congenital heart defects. It usually occurs along with other heart problems such as truncus arteriosus, ventricular septal defect, transposition of the great arteries, and aortic stenosis.The aorta is the large blood vessel that arises from the left side of the normal heart and takes red blood out to the body. The first part of the aorta, called the ascending aorta (1) arises upwards. It then curves leftward forming the aortic arch (2). The aorta then curves downward towards the lower body, and this part is called the descending aorta (3). Three blood vessels exit from the aortic arch and supply the head and arms with red blood. These vessels are called the innominate artery (4), the left carotid artery (5), and the left subclavian artery (6).In babies with interrupted aortic arch, there is a complete blockage between the ascending and the descending aorta (1). This means that there is no direct way for red blood leaving the heart to reach the body parts that are "downstream" from the blockage. The site of the defect varies (2) and may or may not involve the take-off of the head and neck vessels. In most babies with interrupted aortic arch (70-90%) there is also a large ventricular septal defect (3).In newborns with interrupted aortic arch, the only way for blood to bypass the blockage is via the patent ductus arteriosus (4). Prior to birth, this small blood vessel permits blood to by-pass the baby’s fluid-filled lungs. One or two days after birth, this vessel usually closes on its own. In a baby with interrupted aortic arch, if the duct closes, blood can no longer reach the lower body. This can cause the baby to suddenly become very ill. Therefore, after the diagnosis is made, a medicine called prostaglandin is used to keep the ductus arteriosus open until surgery". (http://www.med.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/parint.htm)
So how did the doctors fix this? "Interrupted aortic arch is a serious heart defect that requires surgery soon after birth. The goal of surgery is to create remove the blockage. This used to be done in a two-stage operation but is now done most of the time in one stage. The two ends of the aorta are sewn together (1) and the patent ductus arterious (2) is tied off. Sometimes a patch is needed to reinforce the repair. If present, a patch is sewn over the VSD (3)". (http://www.med.umich.edu/cvc/mchc/parint.htm)
In #1 of the picture below is the part of Ava' heart that was repaired.
Before surgery
The Next Step
The next step in repairing Ava's heart was to fix what is known as Truncus Arteriosus. Truncus arteriosus is "characterized by a large ventricular septal defect over which a large, single great vessel (truncus) arises. This single great vessel carries blood both to the body and to the lungs". (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11073) Below is a picture of what Ava's heart was like before surgery.
Before Surgery
After Surgery
The above picture shows what the surgeon did to repair Ava's heart. "Surgery is required to close the ventricular septal defect and separate blood flow to the body from blood flow to the lungs. This is generally done early in infancy to prevent high blood pressure from damaging the lungs' arteries. A patch is used to close the ventricular defect. The pulmonary arteries are then disconnected from the single great vessel and a tube (a conduit or tunnel) is placed from the right ventricle to these pulmonary arteries. This is sometimes called a Rastelli repair". (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11073)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2007
(67)
-
▼
December
(18)
- News
- Quick Update
- Stocking full of ODDS!!
- Odds equal Hope
- Critical
- 12 hours of surgery
- Praying for Another Miracle
- So Many to Thank!
- Long Day
- New Surgery Date
- Quick Update
- ECHO Results
- Echo date moved
- Hanging Out
- A Better Day
- "The Floor"
- Ava had a low grade temperature this morning but n...
- Change of Plans
-
▼
December
(18)
8 comments:
Ava, jamie, jamie and Bray-you do not need to thank anyone. We all love you and Ava and rest of family. Carol is an Angel. And she loves helping. I do not have an answer either. I like you, want ava home, yet I want her well and home for good. Whatever happens, in whatever factor, will work out. God knows how special Ava is, and we have all come together. I will say goodnight. I pray to God all is what is best for Ava tomorrow. Good night to all of you. Sleep tight and try not to worry. Well I know you will anyway. As I would. But to all that love Ava-say lots of extra prayers tonight. God Bless.
granny and poppy
Zimmermans -
You will all be in my thoughts and prayers today as we await the ECHO results. Christmas is a time for miracles, do not stop believing now. Family and friends are all here to support you with anything that you need. Keep the faith, be strong and most of all take care of yourselves so that you can take care of your little ones!
Ginger
Jamie & Jamie,
My thoughts and prayers are with you today. Just remember that Ava has your strength to continue to help her.
We all love you guys so much,
Aunt Stace
P.S. I bet Brayden picked out a most wonderful Christmas tree. : )
Good morning Ava. Have you had your echo yet? I hope the news is good news. Meaning, the leak is not worse, and they will fix it and you can come home for good. That is my prayer at the moment. We love you ava. Hang in there tough cookie. You have tons of family and friends that want you home healthy and see you smile!!!!!
And-the one big smile we want to see is your mom and dads!!!!!!!!!
love you
granny and poppy
I am thinking of you today, for Ava's echo results. I am praying that the Doctors are are able to
answer all of your questions. I know Ava will keep inspiring us all as she keeps hangin tough!
Love & Prayers,
Janelle
Hi Zimmermans,
I am praying that you get good news from Ava's ECHO today so that you can ALL start your journey home. Hang in there!!!
Love,
Beth Altergott
Praying for results that bring you closer to going home and stability for Ava.
Take care,
The Meek's
Good night Ava, jamie and Jamie and Bray. Please have a good night and I am thinking of all of you.
love you
granny and poppy
Post a Comment