Mackenzie was my third child. I had previously had two healthy children. I expected no less this time. When the pediatrician examined her before discharge, I noticed he lingered longer than normal while checking her heart. I was in shock when he said she had a murmur. I knew nothing about heart murmurs or congenital heart defects. He thought she probably had a small VSD or PDA, but wanted to get an echo before sending her home.

TWO echos and several hours later, we finally had a diagnosis. Mackenzie had a PDA, VSD, PFO and moderate Pulmonary Hypertension. They only told me about the PDA and VSD until we saw the cardiologist at a month old. She did develop RSV at 8 1/2 weeks old, but was lucky enough to be successfully treated at home. Her second visit with the cardiologist was at 4 months. At that time, the echo confirmed a closed VSD and PFO and nearly resolved pulmonary hypertension. They felt the PDA would also close.

When Mackenzie was 10 months old, we moved from Ohio to Colorado. She was seen by cardiology at almost a year old and found to still have a PDA. The initial cardiologist we saw recommended waiting until she was 2 to attempt a sedated echo and discuss possible closure. She developed several complications (UTI, prolonged fever, and a mild stroke) that led us to seek a second opinion.

At 18 months she had a sedated echo that showed a very stubborn PDA. At that point, the PC felt the chances of it closing were very slim. We opted to have it surgically repaired. At 19 months, she had a video assisted thoracoscopic PDA ligation. Her surgery was at 2 in the afternoon. By the next morning, she was running up and down the halls.

Mackenzie is now 3. She was discharged from cardiology with a trivial pulmonary regurgitation 6 months post-op. No more SBE precautions, nothing! She's doing great and other than a very faint scar and a slight limp, you'd never know what a rocky start she had!