Multiple Muscular Ventricular Septal Defects.
After the Xray it was discovered he had fluid in his lungs and an enlarged heart. They sent him to the PICU to await transfer to the Children's Hospital the next morning. That was the longest and hardest night of my life.
After arriving at Children's via ambulance they performed an Echo cardiogram (essentially an ultrasound of the heart) and discovered that Preston had multiple holes in his heart. They diagnosed him with Multiple Ventricular Septal Defects. A VSD is a defect in the ventricular (lower) septum (muscle wall that divides the four chambers of the heart). The four chambers ensure that the blood goes where it needs to go. Some blood goes out to the body and some goes to the lungs. The holes in Pucks heart caused some extra blood (the blood being squeezed through the holes) to be pumped to the lungs instead of the body. This caused his lungs to be saturated in blood and too heavy to breathe normally. The doctors put Preston on a drug called Lasix (it's a diuretic) which causes him to pee out all the extra fluids which are accumulating in his lungs and around his organs.
The first few months after his heart defect was diagnosed was an extremely tiring and stressful time for our family. We were terrified something would happen to him. We cut off all contact with the outside world (as much as we could) in order to keep Preston healthy. If you would like to read over those times you can find them under November 2010 to approximately January 2011.
His last echo showed that the majority of the holes in his heart have closed over. Two holes remain and the doctors have told us they will never spontaneously heal, but they are so small he should never need open heart surgery. His next cardiology appointment is at the ripe old age of two. I pray we continue to get good news!
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| One week old, swollen from edema. |
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| After being put on the Lasix |
