Anybody's child had surgery for Atrial Septal Defect?

Hi all, my baby will need an operation to close his Atrial Septal Defect (hole in the heart), and I'm wondering if anyone has been through this, and can share their experience.

Thanks :)

my newborn has a VSD which is a hole in septum, its 3 mm and is being reviewed at the moment. i am worried most of the time that she will have trouble breathing etc. i am not sure what a asd is but it sounds similar. its pretty scary hey.

Hi Susannah
Yes my son had multiple holes in his heart that were closed when he was 3 months old. I'm making dinner atm, but will come back later to tell you my experience.

ETA:

Perhaps the best way to do this is to just tell my story, then you can ask me any questions you want to. Please read this keeping in mind Zeke's case is extreme, and I don't intent to alarm or scare you in any way...

When Zeke was inutero the 19 week scan revealed the left ventricle of his heart had not grown. I was advised to terminate him, but I chose not to. A subsequent scan at 26 weeks showed his heart had grown to the normal size.:confetti: (an absolute miracle).

Anyway, the rest of my pregnancy proceeded as normal, so it was a huge surprise for us when he was born to discover he had narrowed artery (stenosis) as well as a very large hole in his heart (VSD). He had cardio vascular failure and had his first operation to widen his artery and put a band in to assist the VSD when he was 3 days old. This was closed heart surgery with the incision under his arm.

The cardiologist and surgeons wanted to put the band in as a temporary measure so he'd get big enough and strong enough to have the hole closed via open heart surgery (after he was one year old).

He remained in hospital, struggling to breathe and not really gaining much weight, until at 3 months old the cardiologist decided the risks associated with the surgery did not outweigh the risk of letting him continue on struggling for oxygen and not being able to gain much weight.

So his open heart surgery to correct the VSD happened when he was 3 months old. When the surgeon opened his chest and his heart, there was the "largest VSD he had ever seen on a surviving baby" and "several ASDs which made his heart look like a holey cheese".

He survived the operation, spent a day in ICU, a couple more in SCN, a few more on the ward and then came home (very happy day, that one!)

So that's it in the briefest way I can tell it. If you want to know any details about the procedure they follow re: anesthetic etc ask away and I'll answer to the best of my memory:)