Introduction

In October of 2018 I had open heart surgery to correct a congenital heart defect. This is the first post in a series of posts about my surgery. These posts will tell my story through open heart surgery. If you haven’t already, check out the rest of the My Story posts.

In summer of 2018 I found out that I had a congenital heart defect - atrial septal defect of the sinus venosus type with partial anomalous pulmonary vein return. I had open heart surgery at Boston Children's Hospital in October 2018. Before my surgery I wanted to find some information on what would happen, how it would feel, and what the recovery would be like. I was frustrated that there was very little information about older kids having open heart surgery. I made this blog as a resource for other older kids that may be looking for answers as they prepare for this surgery. 

I found out that I had a heart murmur from my doctor in May 2018. The pediatrician sent me to have an EKG in the cardiologist's  office. The cardiologist looked at my EKG and told me to come back and have an Echo, an ultrasound of my heart. She looked at my echo and sent me to Boston Children's Hospital to have a Cardiac MRI. She looked at the MRI and sent it to her colleague at Children's Hospital who looked at it and said that I should have open heart surgery to fix my heart.

This was all really crazy and scary, it was around this time that I started looking for resources, things to read about my surgery. I really like to know what's happening and what to expect. This helps me feel less nervous. I hope that this blog will help if you are having open heart surgery.

If you have any questions leave a comment or use the contact form in the sidebar. I would be happy to answer any questions that I can.

Thanks for reading!

Caroline