Heart Murmur

Both my girls had a murmur from birth and had to see the PC and get an ultra sound done. This one was a small hole between the left and right ventrical (sp?). They closed at about 20 months for my older one and right at 1 year for my younger. The louder the sound the smaller the hole. You should be able to have the doc let you listen. Do so at each appointment and see if you hear a difference from month to month.

I'm not sure if this is the same type as your girly's murmur but these were no big deal and my girls are healty as ever! Don't sweat until the PC tells you to.

" Don't sweat until the PC tells you to."
This quote from Dana was RIGHT ON!! Same with everyone else's responses. I was born with this damned defect, so was my younger daughter, and now, both of my precious littl grandsons have it. It IS hereditary (like webbed toes etc..)BUT, its not anyone's fault. My daughter and my grandsons never had to have any surgery, but we have to keep an eye on it--just to be on the side of caution. I always told my daughter to be aware--if she felt "certain ways"--because I went through the "attacks" when my heart went "crazy" (our word for it). My symptoms went ACTIVE (tachycardia, dizziness, fainting) when I went through puberty. My poor girls had to watch me go into the ambulance so many times, and watch the flatline go beep--but they KNOW how to make things work, and they do it QUCKLY!!!!Luckily, my daughter did not have any active symptoms, and so far (knock on wood) grandsons don't have any active symptoms either. The big thing is not to "LABEL" your sweet daughter as a "defect".
She will catch on to it...
(MY own parents did that to me, and it was devastating :( SO, I DID NOT do that to my own kiddo)
I am the only one that had to have surgery, and got fitted for a pacemaker at age 30. Luckily, the surgery went well (a catheter thru the femoral artery, and they lazered the defective parts)and no pacer was needed. At age 31, I was actively working in radiology, and in the Cath Lab, where they do these surgeries. The way that medicine has advanced with this sort of thing is AWESOME!! The Ped. Cardio. will know what to do, and you can trust their judgement. They will keep x ray exposure to a minimum, and if she needs the surgery, it will be easy and very effective. The operative word here is IF. HOPEFULLY, she won't, and her life will be one of a happy, healthy, running little girl. Just don't sweat anything UNTIL the PC tells you to!! Big love to you and your precious angel!
Becca

JL, My blessings to you and know that my prayers are with you! My son was born with a congenital heart defect in which the left side of his heart was only getting blood through a small hole between the two atria. He would have died without immediate open heart surgery. 16 hours after birth, they were able to rebuild arteries and veins so his heart would survive however, he ended up needing a pacemaker placed 11 days later...another open heart surgery. Then at 8 months old, his pacer began to malfunction. No signs or symptoms on his end...perfectly fine. So another open heart surgery. He is now four and in February had to have surgery for his peepee. That one scared me more than anything since it was not emergent!

I have a brother that has had a hole in his heart forever. He is now 38 yr old and still doing fine. The cardiologists keep an eye on it and listen to it about every six months. Some people do fine with this situation, others need intervention. As for her weight, my son only weighs 29 pounds. He has been below the 5% since his pacer was placed. Stay positive and ask questions. The doctor is there to answer them so don't be afraid. And if you don't like their answers ask for someone else. Second opinions are ok. I've seen multiple patients with this common problem so hang in there. Best of luck and if you need a shoulder I'm here!

Hi JL,
I have a now 15 year old girl that was born with an ASD ( atrial septral defect) A hole in her heart. It healed itself by about 18 months, which is very common. She is very active in sports and life and she is completely healthy. I have an 8 year old boy with an ASD and he has Down's. His hole was fairly large and did not heal on it's own so they did the procedure where they went in through the artery in the groin and placed a disk in the hole. He was about 4 and weighed 26 pounds. It was a very quick and easy procedure and he was up and running in no time. The ped. when he was born wanted to do open heart surgery then and I said NO! I wanted a second opinion. He did great until he was big enough for the other procedure. He has it checked every couple of years because he has the largest disk ever used in a child and the procedure had just been approved for use in the US at the time he had it done. I researched the procedure and found that it was highly successful in other countries that had been doing it for a while. I am so glad that I waited. He is healthy and happy and all boy!!! You would never know. His surgery was done at sacred heart hospital in Spokane Washington. Good Luck. You are both in our prayers. C.

Hi!
There is a genetic heart condition on my husbands side of the family so we have echo's and other testing done on my girls once a year. One of my friends little girls had tons of heart issues... she was born pre-mature, has had a few surgeries, meds 6 times a day, and she now is a happy healthy little girl!
The PC that I see we LOVE! Make sure that you ask tons of questions and do your research! Trust me... when it comes to your childs health there is no such thing as a "stupid question"! The good thing is that her condition is not so rare that they have not seen it before... the doc's know what they are doing and will take such good care of her! In my experiences with this... the doctors have almost as much emotional investment in the kids as the families do. They will take good care of her and make sure that she is comfortable and feels safe during the exams and procedures. Hang in there and try not to freak yourself out!
MB

JL,

Fear not! It's not always terribly bad. My daughter was also born with a small hole in her heart and just a few days after she was born we were recommended to a PC at Children's Hospital in Seattle. There, they diagnosed her with VSP (forget what it stands for now) and told me that this should close up on it's own. We even had to carry a small information card for if she needed anesthesia for dental surgery or anything like that.

Sure enough by 6 months it was gone, and now she's a healthy, happy, active 14 1/2 month old. I wouldn't worry too much just yet. I was told with my daughter that more often than not they grow out of these things.

Hope this helps,
Supportively,
Melissa

BTW, if you'd like to talk more here's my email: ____@____.com

My son has a heart murmur that was discovered when he was 3 days old. They sent us to a pediatric cardiologist right away, and did an echo cardiogram within like 48 hours. He is fine. He had an Assymentricas VSD (ventricular septal defect), or in other words, a tiny hole between the two bottom chambers of his heart. They told me they would keep an eye on it and if it didn't close itself, they would have to do surgery. He is 4 now. They checked him every 6 months or so at the cardiologist and once per year after it sealed itself. The cardiologist never seemed very concerned either. It was horrible for me too...i imagined all the things you are imagining. They are sending you to a specialist simply because they are not as qualified to diagnose and treat something like that as a specialist is. "general practitioner" is just that...general. They are good at identifying and treating most things, but sometimes they ahve to send you to someone more qualified to make certain that the treatment is the correct one, etc. Try not to be scared of surgery just yet. for all you know, she may not need it. My son also has a bicuspid aeortic valve that is at least partially fused. For that, he only has to have follow ups every year or two now that he's 4. The worst that came out of it is they told me he would have to have a shot of antibiotics before any dental work...and now they have changed the rules on some of those to prevent unnecessary antibiotics (some conditions are no particular risk, so not giving them anymore...or something like that). I would try to be prepared to hear the words "your daughter needs surgery" in case they DO say that, but I would not worry too much. They told me that about 90% of those cases the hole seals itself....but my son's didn't close until he was older than one as I remember. i think sometime between one year and 18 months is when his closed. Try to relax a little (i know it's hard)...it is probably not as bad as you are imagining.

I understand your fear but as you doctor isn't worrying to much yet try not to yourself I was born with the same problem and my parents said by my year birthday the problem corrected itself I still live with a murmur and they keep an eye on it every 5 years or so but I am very healthy at 24! In fact the first time the murmur was really noticeable in a long while was when I was pregnant with my first at 21. No doctor has mentioned it since my pregnancies.