The Roller Coaster Continues...

To call the last few months a roller coaster of emotions would be putting it lightly. Tuesday was no exception. After hearing some optimistic news from Ann Arbor on November 2, that Oscar’s heart was not worst case scenario and seemed suitable to sustain him, Columbus brought on a bleaker outlook. We visited Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus to meet with their cardiology and NICU teams for a second opinion. Our hope was to hear a confirmation of some of the positives or less negatives from our Ann Arbor visit. The doctors took us on a ride that had us both feeling sick to our stomachs the rest of the day.

We spent most of the day in the Heart Center at Nationwide and started our day with a fetal echo. The scan lasted for about an hour/hour and fifteen. We then met with a Cardiologist, Neonatologist , and Palliative Care Fellow. The main malformation of the VSD, hole in the heart, along with Tetralogy of the Fallot were both confirmed. However, the weak squeezing function of Oscar's heart identified before seemed more problematic. The doctor even went as far to say the phrase heart failure. They also saw signs that one of the heart valves, Tricuspid valve, was leaking, which was a new discovery. The Neonatologist continued to express major concerns about Oscar’s breathing upon his arrival. She talked that it would be very likely Oscar would need oxygen almost immediately and it also could be likely his lungs would need drained immediately after birth or later in the NICU. Their language seemed more drastic than what we had heard from the doctors at Michigan. Julie and I both felt as though we had just ridden a coaster and left in a daze.

We had a short break for lunch followed by a meeting with the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Dr. Galantowicz. Dr. Galantowicz agreed that Oscar would not need immediate surgery after birth, but rather would need his heart defects addressed down the road once he is stable and we know what his normal looks like. We also discussed how Oscar will shows us if and when he is ready for heart surgery and Nationwide is a place that would welcome us back. Dr. Galantowicz then brought up the fetal hydrops, abnormal accumulation of fluid in two more fetal compartments. Oscar's hydrops is pleural effusion (lungs) this a recent discovery from our visit to Michigan and ascites (tummy). He use to have pericardial effusion (heart), but it seems that fluid is now moving to the lungs. It will now become a balancing act between letting Oscar mature in the womb with not letting his hydrops become  too much for his body to withstand. The fetal hydrops is expected to get worse until we are able to provide intervention upon his arrival in December. Looking back on Tuesday we both really appreciated all of the doctors willingness and ability to explain things to us that are not easily heard. It makes this roller coaster ride a little easier.

Up next is a visit back at Toledo Hospital. We are hoping they can help us decipher through both reports from our visits and make some decisions. At this point we expect Julie to deliver at Toledo but will take the guidance of our Toledo team. We are hoping to finalize our birth plan and get a clearer picture of when we will induce. Oscar is still breach, so we would really like to see him flip head down.

Prayer Requests:

1.    Oscar would continue to grow big and strong along with flipping into the head down position.

2.    Oscar’s heart muscle would show signs of improved function along with his hydrops (pleural effusion and ascites) dissipating.

3.   Julie and I would communicate well and be able to make any decisions necessary.