Hi everyone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s Mama Mad here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted to start a series called Med Chat where we fill you all in on some of the details of Ollie’s story (for those who are interested in the nerdy stuff).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s a lot to take in and that why I’m going to break it down into individual posts like this to hopefully make it easier to digest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So let’s start with the most important part:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Berlin Heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To understand why Ollie is on the Berlin Heart, you first have to understand what\u2019s going on with his own heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ollie was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome<\/strong>, or HLHS. That\u2019s a rare and serious congenital heart defect where the left side of the heart doesn\u2019t develop the way it\u2019s supposed to. In his case, the left ventricle never formed at all<\/strong>. It\u2019s just…not there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The left ventricle is the part of the heart that\u2019s responsible for pumping oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. So without it, your body simply can\u2019t get the blood and oxygen it needs to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Normally, babies with HLHS go through a series of complex surgeries (called staged palliation) to reroute the blood flow and help the right side of the heart take over the job. It\u2019s not a cure, but it can give kids a decent shot at life with their own heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Ollie\u2019s case is a little more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only is his left ventricle missing, but his aorta is also completely closed off<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s called aortic atresia<\/strong>, and it means there\u2019s no “exit ramp” for the blood to leave his heart and go out to his body. Combine that with the fact that his right ventricle is weak and underperforming<\/strong> (we call that low RV function<\/em>), and it became clear early on that the traditional surgical path wouldn\u2019t be the best option for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His heart just didn\u2019t have the strength to keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s what brought us here\u2014to Shand’s Children\u2019s Hospital in Gainesville. One of the few centers in the country that offers infant heart transplantation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But hearts don\u2019t just show up the moment you need them. The average wait for a donor heart can be 6+ months. Some babies wait nearly a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the question became:<\/strong> How do we keep Ollie alive and stable in the meantime?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Berlin Heart<\/strong> is a type of ventricular assist device<\/strong> (VAD), which is a fancy way of saying it\u2019s a mechanical pump that takes over the job of pumping blood when the heart can\u2019t do it on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s designed specifically for babies and children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The pump itself sits outside the body and is connected to Ollie\u2019s heart through tubes that come out of his chest. It pumps blood through his body 24\/7 and allows his other organs to stay healthy and well-oxygenated while we wait for the right donor heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn\u2019t a long-term solution, but it is<\/em> a bridge. It buys us time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time for him to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time for him to rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time for the right heart to find its way to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Berlin Heart is what\u2019s keeping him alive right now. And thanks to it, Ollie is stable. He\u2019s awake. He\u2019s playful. He\u2019s giving smiles, staring at all the shiny equipment, charming every nurse on the unit, and reminding us every day that he\u2019s still fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We don\u2019t know how long the wait will be. But we\u2019re here. And he\u2019s here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And thanks to the Berlin, we have hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please continue to pray that his Berlin suits him well and that it continues to function perfectly with his body while he awaits his perfect heart. \ud83d\udc9b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hi everyone! It’s Mama Mad here. I wanted to start a series called Med Chat where we fill you all in on some of the details of Ollie’s story (for those who are interested in the nerdy stuff). It’s a lot to take in and that why I’m going to break it down into individual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2265,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEnter: The Berlin Heart<\/h2>\n\n\n\n