Heart scan-an unexpected result

Just a short entry this evening to update you on G's heart scan.

So yesterday morning arrived and I was surprisingly at ease. I guess the fact that things were 'normal' last May had led me to believe that they would be this time round. Only they weren't normal last May, we had simply forgotten about the hole in her heart! 

How could we forget such a major thing, you may ask.... Well the hole (or gap as the consultant called it), is present in all newborn babies. It simply closes after birth. So we forgot about it because we assumed that it was just a little late closing (I think she was around 3 months old at the time of her scan).

Back to yesterday's scan, and after the consultant had completed the scan, G was in a complete state. All appointments now cause G to have a major meltdown, so as you can imagine we were eager to leave as soon as possible. The consultant left to find Dr Archer, the specialist from Oxford who'd overseen all of G's heart scans-both pre and post birth, and took a rather long time to return. Three of them entered the room, and after lots of 'yeps' 'lovelys' and 'greats' we heard an 'ohhhhh' followed by a 'rewind, slow it down and there it is, pause'. Thankfully Dr Archer is amazing, and quickly explained to us what they'd found. I struggled to hear much over G's wailing (yep, she hadn't calmed down one iota!), but got the gist of it. The gap hadn't closed as expected.

It's medical name is Patent Foramen Ovale, meaning an opening between the right and left atria. Alone, it's not serious. Thankfully for G, she has no other heart conditions thus for now it's not serious. It can require surgery, but not until children are at least 3 or 4 years old. In adulthood it can be a contributing factor to strokes though as the hole allows clots to move through, and up to the brain. 

So, the plan of action? 

G will need a heart scan when she is three years old to determine the size of the hole and whether it will need closing via surgery.

For now, there's no point panicking. The fact that she doesn't need to be seen for two years says it all.

So, not the results we were expecting, but not the worse case scenario by a long shot.