Preparations

Matt, the girls, and I met with Dr. Kaushal on Tuesday and he was still very confident that he would be able to get away with making Adriana's heart a 2-ventricle heart. This would mean only one surgery, and no installment of any conduits (conduit installment = Rastelli Procedure). However, Matt and I gave him consent to place the conduit if he finds that the angle of her aorta will hinder blood flow, or her pulmonary stenosis is too much to be tackled by patch-work.

It is important to know that there are risks--as with every surgery. Dr. Kaushal's track record is encouraging and he is knowledgeable. He wanted us to know that the risks (stroke, infection, death) are less than 1%.

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers,and well-wishes. Thank you to all who travel and donate money to help us out. It really means a lot. It helps to know we are surrounded by great family and friends.

Because I am asked often, here is a list of her defects. Feel free to Google:

* Dextrocardia (this will remain forever)

* Double-outlet right ventricle (Will fix by closing holes, making it a 2-ventrical heart with arteries pulling from seperate ventricles)

* Moderate to large secundum atrial septal defect with bidirectional shunting (this hole will not affect her, as it is in the atriums, so it will be left alone)

* Large subaortic ventricular septal defect with overriding aorta (Hopefully will fix with closing hole so aorta can start pulling from left ventricle)

* Additional moderate to large muscular septal defect (VSD) and additional smaller apical muscular VSD (Will close carefully)

* Bicuspid pulmonary valve with severe pulmonary valve stenosis (Hoping to fix with patch-work instead of a conduit)

* Severe supravalvar, valvar, and subvalvar pulmonary stenosis (hoping to fix with patch-work... or will have to fix with same conduit listed above)

Surgery Date

Thursday, January 24th, Adriana will have her heart surgery. Three weeks from today. To say we are terrified is an understatement... There is a silver lining. Both sets of my parents and even Matt's parents (thanks to some AMAZING family friends and Aunt Cheryl) will be able to be with us during what will be a very difficult time.

Hope Everyone Had a Merry Christmas!

The girls had a great Christmas with snow and lots of presents!

Merry Christmas from the Schoonveld Family <3

Sisterly love... followed by something gross.

A Video of Addy and Cameron:

Pre-pre-surgical Appointment

Dr. Baker-Smith met with us today and explained that the more her and Dr. Kaushal look at Addy's 3-D heart images, the more confident they become with making her heart a 2-ventrical heart. Dr. Kaushal says that he can close the ventricular septal defects, and he believes that there is enough room for adequate blood flow through her aorta. He will be looking to do some patch work in her pulmonary artery as well. This will hopefully suffice to ensure adequate blood flow to her lungs(though, as I mentioned before, until he actually goes in he will not be 100% sure). If he feels there is not adequate blood flow for each artery, he may have to do the Rastelli Procedure (placing a conduit, which will have to be replaced every 10-15 years). We are hoping that he can close the holes and be done with it. As I mentioned in my last post, there are more holes than previously thought, so it will take Dr. Kaushal 4 to 6 hours to completely fix everything. He says that Adriana is looking at 10-14 days in the hospital for recovery. We continue to pray that Dr. Baker-Smith and Dr. Kaushal's instincts are correct and that everything can be corrected with one operation. Their optimism is cautious, but comforting nonetheless. Addy measured 12 pounds, 8.8 ounces today, and 24" long... and HER OXYGEN SATURATIONS WERE 98%! That is the highest they've ever been ;)

Just a Heads Up

Adriana's next appointment will be on Thursday, December 13th, with Dr. Baker-Smith and Dr. Kaushal. We are eager to get a better understanding of Addy's heart and hopefully we will get a better idea of what to expect for surgery. The big day is still planned for the end of January, though we do not have an exact date yet.

Hope

Last night Dr. Baker-Smith called me to tell me that Dr. Kaushal is feeling a little more confident about just doing the one surgery on Adriana, to make her heart a 2-ventricle heart (meaning he will just close the VSDs). Of course, he cannot say for sure that he will not have to do a shunt in conjunction, or instead of closing the holes. Unfortunately, it is still a "wait and see" situation. He cannot really know for sure until he goes in. I was also informed that they found a few more small holes in the ventricles--but they are most certain that they will close on their own once the larger ones are closed. Toward the end of December, we will be meeting with Dr. Baker-Smith and Dr. Kaushal in the same day so they can explain. There are images and videos, which I am thankful for, because I am a visual learner. I will be sure and update any further findings. Until then, we will be praying...

Surgery Time Frame

Yesterday the cardiology department discussed Adriana at their conference. Addy's surgeon has decided that he will operate on her at the end of January. She will be almost 6 months old, bigger, and tougher by then, they say. I know her prognosis is a lot better than we first thought, and I know she is strong. Things could have definitely been a lot worse. Addy was able to put off surgery for this long and she was able to thrive. In fact, she still isn't even on any medications. Adriana has surprised all of us with her strength and she is by far the happiest baby I have ever met. Despite the fact that she has proven she is strong, I am still terrified. A surgery date makes her condition real; though this whole time it seemed like it never existed. It is difficult to wrap my mind around it, still. It seemed like she was such a normal, happy, and healthy baby. Now, it's back to reality. Adriana's next appointment is on December 20 with Dr. Baker-Smith. She will discuss the operation more in-depth with Matt and I. We hope and pray that Adriana will only have to have one surgery.

Happy Thanksgiving From The Schoonvelds!

Our menu: Turkey(smoked and stuffed w/apples & cranberries), green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs, 3 bean salad, cheesy garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin pie! I forgot about the corn & crescent rolls, unfortunately...

And now for some pics!

All Growed Up

It has now been 5 whole days since Tateum gave up her beloved Sea-Wha and she has been such a big girl. On Sunday she randomly decided to throw it away. We made sure she understood that she would not be getting another one, and told her to really think it through. Tateum nodded and replied, "I am a big girl. Big girls don't need Sea-Whas."

Though she cried the first two nights when Daddy and I put her down to bed, she has not mentioned Sea-Wha since Tuesday! Our lil girl is growing up :-)