Our beautiful daughter Jessica was born in September 2011 with a severe heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This was diagnosed at her 20 week scan and we were initially told that she was unlikely to be suitable for surgery. However, a pioneering in-utero operation at 28 weeks to enlarge a hole in her atrial septum was carried out and she was able to make it to term and get through her first open-heart surgery at just eight hours old. Jessica underwent five more surgeries during her life. Her final surgery - the Fontan procedure - took place in December 2017. She initially made a good recovery but sadly passed away suddenly on 14th April 2018 at the age of 6. This is the story of a little girl whose half a heart overflowed with love. She was, and will forever be, our little miracle and brought joy to all who knew her.

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Rescheduling the surgery

We arrived on Ocean Ward yesterday morning as Jessica was scheduled to have her surgery today. As always, the day we arrived was a busy one with lots of tests being performed – blood tests, echocardiogram, chest X-ray, sats monitoring etc. and preparing for surgery. As Jessica is over six months, she has outgrown the nursery and we are in one of the other bays which means that Louise can sleep next to her cot.

We were expecting to go into theatre around 11am as Jessica was second on the list but as is often the case, we were waiting longer than anticipated and it was around 1pm before we were told that we were about to go into theatre. However, the surgical team then had an emergency case which meant that today’s surgery for Jessica had to be cancelled and the team would try to reschedule it at a later date. Jessica had been nil by mouth for ten hours by this point so was very happy to be able to have a feed again!

At the moment we anticipate that Jessica’s surgery will be taking place tomorrow afternoon although if there are delays, then the plan is that we will go home and come back in again on Easter Monday ready for surgery on Tuesday. In the meantime, Jessica is fine although her oxygen saturations are again a little lower than they have been at home. She had a visit from Katy yesterday and the Royal Navy motorbike club visited the ward this afternoon to deliver Easter eggs and cuddly toys for the children.

We will update again tomorrow – please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare once again for surgery.

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2 comments:

  1. Unknown4 April 2012 at 21:11

    You haven't left our thoughts today, and we'll be thinking of you all tomorrow.

    x

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  2. elizabethinchurch5 April 2012 at 23:38

    Late Thursday night... midnight watch... hope all is calm for you.Jessica looks as if she takes another trip to Ocean ward in her stride... I guess it's her second home at the moment. You are all held in so much love.

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