Attention: TDR Forum Junkies For those of you who don't know about this search this forum for "Girlfriend's heart condition worse than we thought" post to find out. She has ASD, or Atrial Septal Disorder. This is a hole in her septum, the layer of muscle that seperates the right atria from the left ventricle. Doctors found this out about 7 years ago, thought it was a dime-sized hole. Then she found out it was more a quarter-sized hole about a month ago. She decided to have non-invasive surgery where they do a catheter through her femoral artery starting in her groin, working their way up to the heart, and placing titanium-nickel, two-sided "buttons" that sandwich the tissue and close off the hole. This was to lessen the work load of her heart, since it was pushing oxygenated blood into the lungs, working harder than it should. The left ventricle was twice the size as normal.
Well she made it! Surgery was Friday at 10:30 am. During surgery there is a risk of stroke or heart attack and that worried us. Surgery was supposed to take about 90 minutes. Her mom and I waited and were getting worried when 3 hours later the doc found us and took us into the room that no one ever wants to go in, she made it, but not with great news. Turns out she didn't have ONE quarter-sized hole, but one quarter-sized, which they buttoned, then found a second, dime-sized hole. As they closed that one they found a third hole, dime-size also. They only did two buttons. Doc said it seemed like as soon as they patched one, they would find another. They stopped at two, with a third left alone, possibly a 4th or 5th... Who knows how many? Her septum is like Swiss Cheese and weak, rather than a solid piece. In open-heart, they would cut that entire septum out, and replace it with a piece of tissue that surrounds the exterior of the heart and get rid of the implants.
They expect to have fixed 1/2-2/3 of the holes, fixing the largest ones. Doctor is 50/50 on open-heart. This was the first, and possibly, only surgery. But since its worse than anyone thought, she can have open heart if she wants it. The reason they are not pushing it is because the main reason she did it is so the migraine headaches will stop. They cannot confirm that these are mini-strokes, so even if open-heart is done, it may not stop the migraines or the risk of stroke. Doctor said to take a few weeks to see if the headaches get better or if shortness of breath decreases. One weird thing I learned was that just 24 hours after the buttons were in, her heart had decreased in size a considerable amount.
We got out of the hospital yesterday. They had to keep her 24 hours from surgery so they could do an Echo Cardio Gram (EKG) and double check that the buttons had not moved. It was a long 27 total hours in the hospital and a long night sleeping lengthwise on chairs layed end-to-end until I crawled in bed with her at 4 am, hehe.
Thank you for all the prayers and good wishes! Wanted to let you all know she is doing well!
Nick
Well she made it! Surgery was Friday at 10:30 am. During surgery there is a risk of stroke or heart attack and that worried us. Surgery was supposed to take about 90 minutes. Her mom and I waited and were getting worried when 3 hours later the doc found us and took us into the room that no one ever wants to go in, she made it, but not with great news. Turns out she didn't have ONE quarter-sized hole, but one quarter-sized, which they buttoned, then found a second, dime-sized hole. As they closed that one they found a third hole, dime-size also. They only did two buttons. Doc said it seemed like as soon as they patched one, they would find another. They stopped at two, with a third left alone, possibly a 4th or 5th... Who knows how many? Her septum is like Swiss Cheese and weak, rather than a solid piece. In open-heart, they would cut that entire septum out, and replace it with a piece of tissue that surrounds the exterior of the heart and get rid of the implants.
They expect to have fixed 1/2-2/3 of the holes, fixing the largest ones. Doctor is 50/50 on open-heart. This was the first, and possibly, only surgery. But since its worse than anyone thought, she can have open heart if she wants it. The reason they are not pushing it is because the main reason she did it is so the migraine headaches will stop. They cannot confirm that these are mini-strokes, so even if open-heart is done, it may not stop the migraines or the risk of stroke. Doctor said to take a few weeks to see if the headaches get better or if shortness of breath decreases. One weird thing I learned was that just 24 hours after the buttons were in, her heart had decreased in size a considerable amount.
We got out of the hospital yesterday. They had to keep her 24 hours from surgery so they could do an Echo Cardio Gram (EKG) and double check that the buttons had not moved. It was a long 27 total hours in the hospital and a long night sleeping lengthwise on chairs layed end-to-end until I crawled in bed with her at 4 am, hehe.
Thank you for all the prayers and good wishes! Wanted to let you all know she is doing well!
Nick
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