After three heart surgeries, baby Madison spreads smiles, strength and hope
It was just after midnight on an unseasonably warm Christmas Eve when Morre and Marcus stepped off the plane at Logan Airport. They carried precious cargo: their newborn daughter Madison needed emergency heart surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Madison was the couple’s first child. Like most expectant parents, Morre and Marcus were overwhelmed with joyous anticipation as the pregnancy progressed. They decorated their baby’s nursery and picked out a name: Madison, which means “gift from God.”
But at Morre’s 20-week ultrasound, the couple’s joy was tempered by some troubling news.
Madison had complex congenital heart disease. The prognosis was not good.
Doctors near the family’s home in North Carolina first thought Madison had a disease called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or HLHS, which means the left side of the heart is so underdeveloped that it can’t pump enough oxygenated blood throughout the body. After a follow-up appointment with a local pediatric cardiologist; however, Morre and Marcus learned there was more to the story.
While Madison’s heart showed signs of problems, including a hole called a ventricular septal defect, she did not have true HLHS. Still, she would need corrective surgery at around six months of age.
“We were relieved,” says Morre. “We were still afraid that our precious baby girl would need a major surgery, but we were also happy that we were told the survival rate was good.”
Madison was born on Nov. 28, 2015.
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Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Erin Horan Tags: Our Patients’ Stories CHD congenital heart disease Dr. Aditya Kaza Dr. Gerry Marx Heart Center Melody valve Source Type: news
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