Since Elisa's birth, Erik has heard a heart murmur every time he listens to her heart. Despite us mentioning it several times to the nurses and pediatrician, nobody heard it. It wasn't until her 6-month check-up that the pediatrician FINALLY heard her heart murmur. She then referred us to AZ Pediatric Cardiology Consultants.
Elisa's appointment was set up for 12-28-11. The nurse gave Elisa an EKG, asked questions, and weighed Elisa. Then the PA came in and listened to her heart for awhile. She said the murmur sounded unlike a typical murmur (whatever that's supposed to be) and proceeded to tell me that she would need an echo (aka heart ultrasound), and that someone who had an echo scheduled that hour didn't show up so we could get one right then instead of coming back. I thought that was a good idea so I agreed.
Elisa did NOT like being held down, she fussed and cried and I tried to distract her the best I could. She did alright while I distracted her. It seemed like the echo took FOREVER! I guess it was only a half hour long procedure. Then we waited. And waited, and waited. I'm so glad I brought some food for her. She was a really good girl the whole waiting time. Turns out she really likes spinning on those spin-y chairs.
The doctor finally came it with the results of the echo. I came to that appointment thinking that her murmur meant nothing and everything was just fine. Apparently not. I could tell right away that the results were not desirable when the doctor took a seat. She told me that there is a sizable hole in her heart. I will try to explain it the best I can:
Elisa has:
1.Moderate to large atrial septal defect (see below)
2. Mild to moderate right heart enlargement
3. Otherwise normal heart structures.
So Elisa has Atrial Septal Defect (ASD)--a hole in the atrial septum (the muscle wall). Because of this hole (the doctor said it is about 9 mm), oxygenated blood from the lungs moves from the left into the right atrium, which then proceeds into the right ventricle, and is pumped back to the lungs rather than to the body.
As heart defects go, this is rather mild. She won't die anytime soon from it, and in fact, there are really no symptoms-though we may notice later on that she gets tireder faster than other kids while she's being active.
As far as parenting goes, it is not a pleasant knowing your child has a hole in her heart and will more than likely under go open heart surgery. For now, we will just need to take Elisa in every six months for a checkup, but if the hole as not gone away (which it probably won't considering it's large size) she will need to get it surgically closed when she is 3 or 4 years old. So we will just wait until then. I dread her ever having to go through surgery, but we are thankful she is otherwise normal, happy, and healthy. Poor Elisa. Poor Elisa's heart. She is such a sweetheart.
The EKG
Waiting for the results
