Makenna, born 2015

We found out when Makenna was about a week old she had a heart murmur, we were sent to a cardiologist who discovered a large hole (VSD). In hopes that it would close on it's own he sent us home and we had monthly appointments. Around 4.5 months she had a sedated echo to get really good images of her hole and it was determined it was very large and would never close on its own. Besides being very small for her age she had no other issues from the hole.

 

On January 28, 2016, at 5.5 months old, Makenna had open heart surgery at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. It went perfectly! No issues, no surprises. She spent 1 day in the PICU and 3 days in step down and then we were discharged.

 

It has been 3 weeks post-op and she's doing great, her eating has really increased (gaining approx 1/2 a pound a week), her incision looks really good! We went back last week for a follow up and her echo looked wonderful, her heart looked and sounded like it should! We go back in March for another follow up, and then hopefully it'll be every few months we go.

 

Story by Makenna's mom, Jennifer - Ohio