Before an after Tetrology of Fallot repair ****warning graphic images!!***
Just a warning, I am posting graphic images in this post because I want to share what the truth of what this looks like. Also, I am saving this just in case I lose these images-at least it will be saved here too! I will be posting Chloe's actual heart before and after as well as pictures of her.
Chloe before and after:
Before her repair, she had a BT shunt and stents so her normal oxygen saturation's were 75-85. If she was crying her sats would drop to the 50s. This is why she wasn't allowed to cry! She was always dusky but turned very very blue when her sats were in the 50s. Now her normal oxygen saturation's are 95-100. That's the same as you and I! Her sats when shes been crying hard for over 10 minutes barely even reach 88. That would happen to you and I if we cried very hard for an extended period of time too. Its amazing isn't it? Now she will have much more energy, be happier, reach milestones better, feeding will be better, etc. She will probably grow faster and maybe a tooth will finally pop in! A lot of things change when you finally have enough oxygen in your body.
Chloe's heart before and after *graphic!*:
So, some people may be offended by these pictures but I think they are pretty neat! The first picture is when she had the BT shunt. That very tiny tube that looks like a straw. When she cried or over exerted herself, the shunt was blocked because of her tensing up. this is why he sats dropped to the 50s- no blood was flowing to her heart! It was a scary stressful time indeed. I couldn't stand watching her turn blue with every blood draw, nasal swab, xray, just being fussy, etc. It was torture for all of us especially knowing that she might not have made it if she didn't calm down soon enough.
The second picture, its hard to see, shows the conduit. This provides a different way, the correct way, for blood to flow. There is also a patch to correct her VSD but that is inside of her heart so it is not shown in the picture. I know this is confusing to people who don't understand the tetrology of fallot repair so ill insert a nice diagram.
Its such a relief to finally have Chloe's full repair out of the way!
Just a warning, I am posting graphic images in this post because I want to share what the truth of what this looks like. Also, I am saving this just in case I lose these images-at least it will be saved here too! I will be posting Chloe's actual heart before and after as well as pictures of her.
Chloe before and after:
Before her repair, she had a BT shunt and stents so her normal oxygen saturation's were 75-85. If she was crying her sats would drop to the 50s. This is why she wasn't allowed to cry! She was always dusky but turned very very blue when her sats were in the 50s. Now her normal oxygen saturation's are 95-100. That's the same as you and I! Her sats when shes been crying hard for over 10 minutes barely even reach 88. That would happen to you and I if we cried very hard for an extended period of time too. Its amazing isn't it? Now she will have much more energy, be happier, reach milestones better, feeding will be better, etc. She will probably grow faster and maybe a tooth will finally pop in! A lot of things change when you finally have enough oxygen in your body.
Chloe's heart before and after *graphic!*:
So, some people may be offended by these pictures but I think they are pretty neat! The first picture is when she had the BT shunt. That very tiny tube that looks like a straw. When she cried or over exerted herself, the shunt was blocked because of her tensing up. this is why he sats dropped to the 50s- no blood was flowing to her heart! It was a scary stressful time indeed. I couldn't stand watching her turn blue with every blood draw, nasal swab, xray, just being fussy, etc. It was torture for all of us especially knowing that she might not have made it if she didn't calm down soon enough.
The second picture, its hard to see, shows the conduit. This provides a different way, the correct way, for blood to flow. There is also a patch to correct her VSD but that is inside of her heart so it is not shown in the picture. I know this is confusing to people who don't understand the tetrology of fallot repair so ill insert a nice diagram.
Its such a relief to finally have Chloe's full repair out of the way!
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