Update

I am sure you are all anxious to hear the results of today's visit with Rebekah's cardiologist.  However, before I fill you in, may I just say that Drew and I have been blown away by the number of prayer warriors that Rebekah has right now?!  Do you realize that just today Rebekah's blog has had over 1200 hits?!!!!!!! We are so grateful and humbled by the support and encouragement that you have shown us. It seems so inadequate to say, but thank you.  Truly, thank you. We know that only the Lord could have worked in such a way.

We have seen the Lord's leading and working already in so many ways in our lives and in Rebekah's little life.  I hadn't posted this before, but just the diagnosis of her heart defect was the Lord's timing. My OB doctor had no specific reason to send me to a maternal-fetal specialist for our 20 week anatomy (ultrasound). He just felt led (of the Lord!) to have me checked due to low amniotic fluid in prior pregnancies.  Today, we felt very confident in meeting with Dr. Lucas, Rebekah's cardiologist. He answered all of our questions and more, and I will attempt to share that information accurately....

But, first, don't you just love baby feet?? This is the sweetest little foot I've seen all day! :)

Dr. Lucas confirmed Rebekah's diagnosis of Truncus Arteriosus, and his best guess is that it is Type 1 and 1/2.  Sound strange? I thought it did! Basically he said the difference between Type 1 and 2 is the lenth of the little areterial "stem" that branches into the left and right lungs. He said to imagine this little stem as a pair of pants. The "waist" of the pants begins in the heart and the "legs" of the pants branch to the left and right lobes of the lungs.  Truncus Type 1 has a waist and legs; Truncus Type 2 is missing the waist altogether, but has the two legs. His version of Truncus Type 1-1/2 is that she has a very short little "waist" and normal "legs." Basically, the differentiation is textbook only. It will not affect her diagnosis, treatment, surgery or final outcome.

I will preface the following with the fact that Dr. Lucas stressed (over and over and over and over.....) that ultrasounds and echos do not show every possible detail of the heart, so he cannot gaurantee that he can give us concrete answers until she is actually delivered, and not completely until she is in surgery and the doctors see her heart will they be able to tell exactly what is going on.  That being said, Dr. Lucas said that right now her heart defect looks very straightforward with no other visible complications. When Rebekah is born (and definitely that will be in Charleston at MUSC), she will almost immediately be taken to the Pediatric Cardiothoracic ICU. She will be stabilized and checked for any other problems or defects and assessed by the cardiology team. At that time, the surgeons will set a tentative date for her corrective open heart surgery, typically within the first week after birth. A "best case scenario" timeline is a hospital stay between 3 and 4 weeks from the time of birth to discharge.

After today's appointment, we have three very specific prayer requests to share with you. The first is that Rebekah will be fully developed at birth and that she will not come early. Dr. Lucas said the worst case scenario is if she is born before her lungs are fully developed because it would significantly delay her surgery and potentially cause permanent damage to her lungs and/or heart.  The second request is to guard Rebekah from any kind of sickness or infection between her birth and the time of her surgery. For obvious reasons, her surgery will be delayed if she has an infection, so it is critical that she remain well until her surgery and during her recovery time. Along those lines, please pray that Drew and I remain healthy so we will be able to visit with her in the PCICU. And third, Dr. Lucas said that the biggest hurdle for most babies is learning how to eat after surgery. He said that very often this is the only thing that stands in the way of being discharged after recovery. We are praying that Rebekah will transition to eating by mouth very smoothly with little or no trouble.  Also, we have begun to pray for Rebekah's surgeons, Dr. Bradley and Dr. Hsia, that the Lord would grant them wisdom in correcting Rebekah's heart.

There is much more to share about Rebekah's prognosis and long-term care, but it is late.  Four little boys will be up much to early for my liking, so I will save the rest for another post.  Thank you again for your prayers and support. It means more than you could ever know!

Nancy