I’m a SMURF!

September 22nd 1983 I took my first breath, who knew it wouldn’t turn me pink like it’s supposed to do to all newborn babies? No one could have predicted that upon taking that first breath I would remain the color of a smurf and set off the fear alarms of all the other people present in the room including my parents, doctors and nurses. The opinion in the delivery room was unanimous, something was seriously wrong. Within two hours of my entry into the world I was riding shot-gun in a pickup truck with my daddy and granny on my way from the hospital nursery to the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters where I was going to be evaluated as if I were an amoeba being looked at under the microscope in a tenth grade biology class.

After a thorough exam and an echocardiogram it was determined that everyone was right, something was wrong and the problem was my heart. I guess somewhere between wherever it is we come from and the womb someone forgot to give me my Tricuspid heart valve and didn’t place the screws tight enough in my Mitral heart valve. Diagnosis? Tricuspid Atresia with Mitral Valve Prolapse.

The definition of Tricuspid Atresia as well as causes, incidence and risk according to the University of Maryland Medical Center and Me:

Tricuspid atresia is a type of in which the tricuspid heart valve is missing or abnormally developed (The creator of the universe didn’t bother to attempt to give me one at all). The defect blocks blood flow from the right atrium (upper) to the right ventricle (lower).

Tricuspid atresia is an uncommon form of congenital heart disease that affects about 5 in every 100,000 live births. Twenty percent of patients with this condition will also have  other heart problems (well this explains the fact that the screws weren’t placed in the door hinges of the other valve).

Normally, blood flows from the body into the right atrium (upper), then through the tricuspid valve (yeah.. that didn’t happen) to the right ventricle (lower) and on to the lungs. If the tricuspid valve does not open (or is MISSING), the blood cannot flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle (well that would be because the right ventricle died). Blood ultimately cannot enter the lungs, where it must go to pick up oxygen and become oxygenated (ahhhh, that explains being blue.. I guess that tends to happen when your blood stays blue due to no flow to your lungs to get oxygen)

Infants with tricuspid atresia generally are cyanotic (SMURFS!) and easily become short of breath (why my mother had to tap on my feet to keep me from falling asleep due to exhaustion while drinking my bottle).

So instead of looking like this inside:

 

I ended up looking like this inside:

And that ladies and gents, was my crazy introduction to this crazy thing called life. Since being diagnosed I have undergone two open heart surgeries. I had a Blalock and Taussig Shunt at the age of five and a half months old and an old style Fontan when I was two and a half years old. I am currently gearing up for round three on the operating table for the Fontan Revision/Maze procedure sometime within the next year.

This first entry is just an introduction, stay tuned to read about reminiscent stories, present day adventures and peeks into the future of a woman who loves with half her heart.

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