Henry's Heart

Shortly after our babymoon in October, Henry was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). This news really knocked us for a loop and led to weekly appointments over the last ten weeks. When I get a chance, I will put up some links with more details of this condition, but in a nutshell it means the left side of his heart is underdeveloped. In Henry's case, he has no functioning left ventricle, and the remaining parts of the left side are very small. In a normal heart, the blood returning from the body enters the right atrium and flows to the right ventricle, which pumps the blood to the lungs for oxygen. The oxygenated blood returns to the left atrium before flowing to the left ventricle, which pumps the blood out to the body. Without a left ventricle, the right side will need to pump the blood out to the body. To do this, there are a series of procedures, performed in three surgeries that will, in essence, rearrange the plumbing around Henry's heart. When complete, blood returning from the body will flow directly through the lungs to receive oxygen, and then into the heart for the right side to pump directly into the arteries. The first surgery will need to happen sometime within the next week, before the oxygen levels in his blood become unacceptable. So, the respiratory distress has been an unexpected complication, but appears to be passing. We are simply waiting on the lungs to strengthen enough for him to go through surgery.