I Have a Trisomy 21 Boouncy Baby Boy Soon to Be 4 Months with a VSD

Hi I., I work in open heart surgery and if all that he's having done is a VSD, it's a quick surgery and he should bounce back quickly too. Surgery is always scary for parents, but be assured that he will be very well taken care of. It will also be scary to see him once he comes out (lots of tubes and probably still on a ventilator) but he will be made comfortable. The breast bone heals quickly and he should not feel a lot of pain. The best thing you can do is comfort him. Be by his side and hold his hand. Best wishes to him for a speedy recovery.

My son was 3 when he had open heart surgery. He had ASD. I was so scared! I didn't know what to expect and he was my first baby too! The surgery went pretty fast and at first when I seen him I just was devasted, his little lips were so dry and he could barely cry. But later that evening and the next day, he acted like nothing happened. LOL He was sitting up watching Barney!! Children are pretty tough and they heal pretty quickly!

When he had his surgery I didn't find out what they did exactly until I read his surgerical report. OH MY! But he's 12, soon 13 and doing wonderful! His scared healed very well.

I pray God give you peace!

Hi I.,
My daughter has Downsyndrome and is 27 now. She had VSD surgery 26 years ago. She did great! I am sure now days it will be even better. Your boy will recover very fast. Babys heal very quickly. It will be a shock when you first see him after surgery, because after surgery they have them hooked up to a lot of things to monitor them. By the second day they remove most of that. He will sleep a lot and I don't think you will see him in a lot of pain. My daughter didn't seem to have much pain at all. Children with DS have a very high pain tolerance also. My daughter has been the light of our lives. She is healthy, happy and working 26 years after surgery. Good Luck!!!!

I have a 3.5yo son who had open heart surgery (Interrupted aortic arch and 2 VSDs) when he was 11 days old. He recovered pretty well, but also had tons of other medical issues that required other surgeries. It is the scariest thing ever, but I am sure your baby will do just great! They keep them pretty sedated for a while. My son stay paralyzed and sedated for about 5 days, then finally came off the vent, not sure if its different for just the VSD repair though. Best of luck and congrats on your new baby!

First of all, i'd like to start off by saying I'm so sorry your little one has to go through surgery so early .. if at all! The best thing you can do for your little one is tylenol... give him/her tea instead of milk... it soothes them and it works great. Sing songs to him... kiss him and hug him as much as you possibly can. Beyond that... there isn't much you can do. He is going to be in a lot of pain... that part is obvious, but beyond being a loving mother who is sympathetic to his pain and feelings... there isn't much you can do but be supportive. I wish I could help more...

The absolute best thing you can do is be there. Studies have shown that children recover faster when two factors are in place; A. someone is there to comfort them, touch them
B. pain medications are not allowed to wear off.

I come from a large family of medical people (3 nurses, 1 nuculear medicine tech, 1 patient advocate) and I have volunteered for years in hospitals. The general conclussion is when a patient is comforted and the pain is kept to a minimum then a person recovers much faster.
Be your child's BEST advocate! There are still doctor's out there that believe children don't feel pain like adults! If anyone gives you that line of BS ask for another doctor or nurse immediately.
I am sorry that your child has to go through this now but he is VERY lucky to have you going through it with him. *HUG*

Hi I.,

I'm sorry I haven't been around to answer your question pre-surgery. My son underwent two open heart surgeries, one for an AV canal repair and one for a VSD. He also has Down Syndrome.

The surgery was scary and tough but he is such a strong little boy and fought through. He is two years old now and doing really well. He had his surgery done at UIC and is still recognized when we go through the halls, he had a great medical team. We are truly blessed.

Any other questions for what comes next, please feel free to ask. It's crazy with alot of ups and downs, but worth every minute!

I hope the surgery went well and this email finds you at home very soon!

Hello I.,
I know what your going through. I am a 38 year old mother of five myself and my oldest is 14 and my youngest is 11 months. I have gone through surgury with my kids as well.It wasn't on their chest bone it was their eyes and what made it worse was it was all done with a scalpel and not laser surgury.If it wasn't done they would of gone blind. My advice to you is to use the love and support of your husband and other children. I don't know anything about the type of surgury and how long your little boy will be in pain but I am sure that the Dr. will give some type of pain reliever and you will have to use that and even though it sounds a bit cleshay it will be over before you know it and your son will be so much better. I send you my prayers and sypmathy . It will all be just fine and our kids are stronger than we know. I know my boys were and I thought that they would be hurting so badly because the Dr. said that they would have headaches and they would have bad eye pain and not one of them even shed a tear in pain when it was all done. The only bad thing was that there eyes were bleeding and the whites of their eyes stayed completly red for a week but they didn't complain of any pain so I pray that you get the same thing. Good luck to you and your baby boy.