Our Little Brennan

It's been a long day. I normally wouldn't post this but Janalee and I need all the prayers we can get at this point for Brennan (that's the name we chose for our baby due in October). It's a long story so I'll make it as brief as possible. When Janalee and I went in for the first ultrasound to check everything out the doctors noticed he had a very large stomach. We went back in a couple times and it the stomach was still large. We were told it could be something wrong with the digestive system that could be caused by Down Syndrome.

A couple weeks later we were directed to see an awesome Neonatologist at Utah Valley Hospital, Dr. Gainer. She checked out the stomach and found nothing wrong, the blood tests were good, so no Down Syndrome. Janalee and I were relieved until Dr. Gainer noticed something was wrong with the heart. Crazy huh? We go in for a stomach problem and go out with a heart problem. At this point Janalee was on an emotional rollercoaster, first we're worried about D/S now we have a potentially life threatening heart problem. Dr. Gainer referred us to a pediatric cardiologist at Primary Childrens Hospital for a pediatric echocardiogram(big word for better ultrasound). Dr. Pinto, the very good pediatric cardiologist, took a long look at Brennan's heart.

Brennan has Double Outlet Right Ventricle with Normally Related Great Arteries & Pulmonary Stenosis & Ventrical Septal Defect. All 3 problems are commonly found together. It would take forever to explain what that is so you might have to google it. However, here's a digram to show it:

I couldn't find an exact digram of the problem the but one labeled Tretalogy of Fallot is close enough. Basically there is a hole in his Left Ventricle, his Aorta is shifted toward the middle of the heart right over the hole(which actually helps us out a little). What the Digram doesn't show is a shrunken or very tight PA(pulmonary artery). The end result is our little guy won't get enough oxygen to his body without eventual surgery.

The Good News? This can be treated....with a very high success right(I believe over 90%).

The Bad News? We have to deliver at U of U so he can be rushed right over to Primary's. After that we'll see how soon he has to have surgery. Within the first 6 months of Brennan's life it's likely he'll have had 2 open heart surgeries. The first one would be a shunt from the aorta to the pulmonary artery to give him a bit more oxygen. We won't know if he'll need this one until he's born, just depends how small his pulmonary artery is. The for sure surgery he'll have to have is one that seals the hole, moves the aorta to the right place, and opens up the pulmonary some more(major surgery).

The outlook is good. Out of all the heart defects out there this is one of the better ones. Primaries is one of the best places to be to treat this and I have full confidence in our doctors.

Thanks for all your prayers, fasting and support. A special thanks to Jamie Gillman, she's been a big help to Janalee. She's been through all of this and much more.