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Main => Everything Else => Topic started by: Level42 on October 12, 2009, 08:11:59 pm
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Exactly one week after his open heart surgery our son Mark is returning back home tomorrow !
I am incredibly happy that the surgery went very well and his recovery was nothing short of amazing, so quickly.
Of course he will have to build up some more strength over the next weeks before he can go to school again, and we'll be back for some weekly (ultrasound) checks, but all in all, this couldn't have gone any smoother.
I'm sure most of you guys may have seen him on some pics on one of my threads.
I put up a blog but it's all in Dutch, but if you check out the pictures there, you get some idea what he had to go through. ( http://web.me.com/andre.huijts (http://web.me.com/andre.huijts) ) We're very proud of him because he went through it all very bravely.
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:cheers: :cheers:
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That's awesome. I can't imagine what you've gone through. My prayers are with you and your family.
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Outstanding news, glad to hear it!
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I agree with all of the above. My prayers are with you, and rejoices too.
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:cheers:
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COOL!
You know what this means tho, right? It wont be long before the kid is running around like he owns the Earth and scaring you to high hell by jumping off of 2 storey buildings! Not too long after that he will insist on wearing "cranial accessories" and getting ink. Then not too long after that he will run away with a waitress named Dierdre and get Married and have 3 kids, non of them named after you!
They grow up so damn fast!
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:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:
Yeah. And imagine what would have happened if he was a girl.....
But you're exactly right. He was walking around the hospital rooms yesterday like nothing actually happened in the last weekend, it's truly amazing. At one point he was lifting a big crate of Lego which almost made me flip because he has to take care a bit because of the wound on his chest. He simply said, no problem I can handle it.
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For those interested I tried to explain the story a bit:
I normally don't mention it too often because I don't want to "patientice" the little guy if you know what I mean. He was doing really well in every day life but was getting some problems when he was playing football or running around with the other kids or even playing very intensely. He was born with 3 heart defects and had surgery to fix it when he was 3 months old, so we already had experience with it, but of course you never get used to it (luckily !).
For those interested I'll try to explain. Take a look at this pic while reading:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Diagram_of_the_human_heart_%28cropped%29.svg/600px-Diagram_of_the_human_heart_%28cropped%29.svg.png)
The 3 defects were:
1) missing Pulmonary valve and main pulmonary artery
2) VSD which means a hole between the left and right ventricles (which was actually a good thing to happen in the very beginning, else his blood would have no way to go right after his birth because of defect 1)
3) Mapca's. Mother nature had tried to "solve" the problem by growing 3 bypasses from the aorta to the pulmonary arteries.
This all resulted in blood flowing through his lungs and body, but oxygen rich and deoxenated blood was mixing which obviously is not what you want to happen.
When he was 3 months, they closed the VSD (problem 2). This is already a pretty "easy" surgery because it's a "common" heart defect. They made an opening in the right ventricle and placed a valve and connected pulmonary artery (which comes from a calf ! But it's "dead" so sort of like a piece of leather) and connected it to the first left and right pulmonary artery branches.
Because this way the correct situation was restored they had to close the mapca's (bypasses) of course because they are not meant to be there in the first place.
All went well then, but the valve didn't work very well in the beginning and had lost all of it's function in the end. Also the artery was a little bit narrowing. This resulted that the right ventricle had to pump much harder than normally. And then the same thing happens as when you're going to exercise a muscle: it will grow. Nice for muscles but in this case, the space in the right ventricle reduces because of this, so less blood getting in there, and again more power needed by the heart to pump the blood away.
This was all not to bad for his first years, but as mentioned, now was the time to replace it.
So a week ago they replaced that valve and artery by a larger one (again from a calf). This will hopefully last for a good number of years. It's never exact science so they can't exactly say how long. The size of the artery he has now is that of an adult.
It will not last forever so we know he will have to have this replaced every so many years (let's say, 10 years).
The good news is that next time he will not have to undergo open heart surgery, because then he will have grown enough so that they can do it by catheter, so with a small tube running from his lower belly. Of course this is a lot less exhausting for a patient. They also will be using a human donor "part" then instead of from a calf. (So everybody, become a donor ! Too many people are waiting for donor parts and there actually are people dying because of this !!!!)
Sorry for all the medical terms, but it's hard to translate otherwise.
It's in these situations that you are extremely grateful to live in a country with one of the best medical facilities in the world, plus a good and affordable (still !) health care insurance. (Not making any political statements here, but we Dutch have a habit of complaining about our country, when in fact things are pretty well organized here)
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They also will be using a human donor "part" then instead of from a calf. (So everybody, become a donor ! Too many people are waiting for donor parts and there actually are people dying because of this !!!!)
+1
I've been listed as a donor for years. It's one of the most important things someone can do. It can give so much while costing so little.
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They also will be using a human donor "part" then instead of from a calf. (So everybody, become a donor ! Too many people are waiting for donor parts and there actually are people dying because of this !!!!)
+1
I've been listed as a donor for years. It's one of the most important things someone can do. It can give so much while costing so little.
+1 -- I'm listed as a donor and my family knows my wishes.
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Hey Level -- great to hear that he'll be back blowing up the Death Star in no time!
:applaud:
++1 -- I'm listed as a donor.
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That's good news! Always scary when kids have to go through things like that.
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Congrats! My son was born with heart defects as well (four), with the VSD as one of them. I am very happy for you guys, I hope your son's recovery continues to go well.
Do you feel like this stuff is behind you yet?
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Thats great news Level42.
Here's to a speedy recovery :cheers:
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Thanks for all the kind words !!
Cheffo: great comment, loved that and in fact it's the one game he keeps nagging me about because the yoke is currently "out of order" :D
Mustardtent:
About your question, no we don't have that feeling yet. At this moment he is pretty open for some diseases like the flu right now, so he'll have to recover further some weeks at home. Doctors told us school is the biggest source of infection you can imagine (children coughing in each other's faces etc.) and that we should be very careful.
Apart from that, as you know, it will never be completely behind us. We already know he will have to undergo some more treatments in the future, during his entire lifetime probably. The valve and artery placed now will not last forever. As mentioned next time (which I hope is away a good chunk of time) the surgery will be much less demanding and a donor "part" will be used. I have no clue about how long those will last. However, if the periods of time between surgeries can be pretty long, he can grow to become just as old as anyone else. Then again, life offers no guarantees in any way.
Maybe it's because of this that we live a bit more by the day then we did before, put some things in different perspectives like we used to do and maybe are more conscious in enjoying our son every day then we would have done else.
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I had no idea, your son was sick, but I am glad he's doing alright now! It's hard when your little ones are sick like that and in the hospital, I know your anxiety level must have been though the roof. It sounds like your kids a trooper though, and I'm sure in the future he will continue to handle this as such.
"I have no clue about how long those will last. However, if the periods of time between surgeries can be pretty long, he can grow to become just as old as anyone else. Then again, life offers no guarantees in any way."
I would be shocked if they wouldn't have the ability to grow these parts that he needs from his own stem cells in the near future. With advances like these, perhaps he isn't in for a life of surgeries ever so often. At any rate, I wish you and your family my best.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-479481/Heart-patients-valves-grown-cells.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-479481/Heart-patients-valves-grown-cells.html)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081021094212.htm (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081021094212.htm)
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No prayers from me, as i have faith in human compassion and ingenuity. Glad it's all working out so far :)
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Danny, thanks, I'm a humanist too, but I respect it if someone is religious.
Orion: I wouldn't exactly call him "sick". He's been doing pretty well up to now, and if people don't know they won't notice. Only when he's (I hope it will become _was_ now) doing sports or intensive playing/running he got tired very soon.
You are totally right about your last remarks. Time is really working in his advantage as medical science becomes better and better. 30 years ago, his future would have been very dark....
Again thanks to all for the best wishes !
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Danny, thanks, I'm a humanist too, but I respect it if someone is religious.
Orion: I wouldn't exactly call him "sick". He's been doing pretty well up to now, and if people don't know they won't notice. Only when he's (I hope it will become _was_ now) doing sports or intensive playing/running he got tired very soon.
You are totally right about your last remarks. Time is really working in his advantage as medical science becomes better and better. 30 years ago, his future would have been very dark....
Again thanks to all for the best wishes !
Your welcome, I'm just glad everyone is doing well!
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hope for nothing but the best for you and yours