My story begins on November 13, 2007. I was in my 20th week of pregnancy and scheduled for a routine ultrasound at the Royal Victoria Hospital. I was anxious to find out if I was having a boy or girl; I didn’t expect what happened next. The technician called in the doctor to look at my ultrasound. They weren’t able to see the baby’s heart chambers and she said I’d have to have a fetal heart ultrasound. It felt like I’d just been hit by a ton of bricks.
I was soon told that my baby had a very rare heart condition. I called my doctor immediately and she referred me to a neonatal specialist. I now knew I was carrying a boy and was told that his rare malformation meant he might not be as healthy as we would hope for, and that he could be disfigured. I made an appointment at the hospital for a second opinion.
It was a Monday morning, we woke up to a big snowstorm but I felt I had to get to that appointment. The doctor told me that the malformation could be corrected with a surgery known as "the Senning". He then sent us to a surgeon who was positive that our baby could be saved with this operation. I called the Montreal Children’s Hospital to book an appointment with Dr. Christo Tchervenkov.
When I met with Dr. Tchervenkov he said we’d have to wait until he saw the baby at birth. So 17 weeks later, on April 1, 2008, after Dominic was born at the Royal Victoria he was immediately whisked away to the Children’s where they preformed a balloon septostomy to buy more time for the corrective surgery.
After 17 days in the neonatal unit, we brought Domenic home. Every couple of weeks we had to go to The Children’s for a follow-up. On June 3, he had an MRI and had to stay overnight in the hospital. The next morning his saturation was very low and he couldn’t be released. At that moment, they decided they had to operate; they inserted a shunt. Dominic got an infection and had to stay at the hospital for one month. He was released on July 2. We continued the follow-up at the cardiology clinic, and Dominic had a heart catheterization, and another MRI.
Several months later, on November 4, Dr. Dancea called to say the Senning was scheduled for November 13. We went to pre-op the day before, where I met with all the doctors, nurses, and anesthesiologists. Dr. Tchervenkov said he was very confident about the surgery, and while he hadn’t done this surgery before, he had seen it performed in Boston. He was so confident. Eight hours passed, and then Dr. Tchervenkov came out to say the surgery was a success. I was so happy, I felt like I had just given birth to my son again. His saturation is now at 97 and he is not blue anymore.
I wanted to share my story because if it wasn't for all these great doctors at The Children’s, especially my “God” Dr. Tchervenkov, Dominic would not be here today. I also want to thank Michèle Zegray and Devon Leguillette in the Cardiology department, and Dr. Dancea, Dr. Jutras, and Dr. Beland and her staff for all the great work.
Rita Decia
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