VSD Surgery in the Fall.

Hello everyone,
So we have known that our youngest would be having surgery in the fall of 2012 but, I was really hoping that her heart would heal and not need open heart surgery. It is just so scary. =/
She was born with a very large VSD and a few other heart problems that cleared up as she got a little older. She is now 5 months old. She had an echo. last week and they discovered that her hole is actually getting smaller, but it is taking away from her aortic valve, so they want to go in and repair it in September. her heart and lungs and liver are also very large. I have known this day would most likely come since February, but it does not make it any better... I want her to be better, but i am just so scared of her having surgery. I just don't want her to have to go through all of that and me being selfish i do not want to see her like that!! Anyone who has gone through this your stories and any advice would be AMAZING!!! THANKS!

my son has had 2 OHS and 2 caths. hes 8 months old now. its alot harder on the parents than it is on the child. a VSD closure is a pretty easy surgery, she will probably be out of the hospital within a week. just make sure no picking up under the arms for 6 weeks, and give her pain meds for the first few weeks ( never in my life would i have thought that id be giving my kid oxycodone at 2 weeks old, but id rather have a drugged up baby than a baby miserable in pain) and thats about it. they heal pretty quickly. it took DS a good 2 weeks after his second OHS for him to actually feel like eating, and feel good enough to smile and be his normal self again.

Thanks so much for the reply!
Did the docs prescribe the oxycodone? Well i'm assuming.. but The nurse i talked to said for pain relief we would just use plain old tylenol and ibuprofen.
And was it just normal food or formula that your l/o not eat?
Thanks

Hi, I'm way late in here. But I figured I would comment.

My little man was born with tetralogy of fallot, VSD, double outlet right ventrical.

He has had 2 catheter surgeries and 1 OHS. He had the open heart 2 days before his first birthday. He spent 2 days in picu and was moved the children's heart ward and spent the rest of the week there. The picu stays we're the hardest, he was starving and in so much pain. They had him on morphine and oxicodone (also had it at home as a back up if simple Panadol didn't help which it didn't). They didn't let him have solids until 2 days after the surgery and wouldn't let him have a full bottle of milk until day 4 (only very small amounts).

He seemed to recover quickly though.

His surgery journey is linked on my profile as well as his story if you would like to know more or are interested in reading.

Good luck.

Quoting uberificlymagic:" Thanks so much for the reply! Did the docs prescribe the oxycodone? Well i'm assuming.. but The nurse ... [snip!] ... we would just use plain old tylenol and ibuprofen. And was it just normal food or formula that your l/o not eat? Thanks"

noo.. your going to want some oxycodone to take home with you, at least enough for 5-7 days. they seem to be in much more pain the first few days at home than they are in the hospital since theyre moving around alot more.

he wouldnt eat anything after surgery, he wasnt on solids yet tho, just BM. he came home with a tube feed after both surgeries

Thanks so much guys!!