The Diagnosis: Tetrology of Fallot
Our princess was born on September 16, 2016 with Tetralogy of Fallot and Pulmonary Atresia. While in labor, the nurse noticed that Paislee’s heart was showing signs of arrhythmia. Instead of getting better it increased and my doctor became concerned. Throughout the pregnancy, the only complication I had was gestational diabetes, so immediately an emergency cesarean took place. Upon delivering a precious 8lb baby girl, my world was turned upside down. Being medicated didn’t really help too much; it just made it more difficult to understand what was happening.
The diagnosis came as a shock, and knowing I was going to be separated from my precious baby girl hit me even harder. She was transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital along with my husband. The hospital wanted to operate on her immediately, but they couldn’t guarantee that I would be able to see her grow. As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses we have strong beliefs when it comes to blood transfusions- this was a really big obstacle for us. We had no choice but to find someone who was comfortable operating without the use of blood. So with the help of our brothers in faith, we found Dr. John Kupferschmid and Dr. Mary Porisch in San Antonio, TX who was happy to accept Paislee’s case.
Paislee's Recovery
On September 29, 2016 we were transported to Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, TX and within hours of being there Dr. Mary Porisch performed her first procedure: a PDA stent. We were able to take Paislee home on October 13, 2016 and we also have to keep up with her SpO2 stats twice daily. She will have the full repair in the future, but for now the plan is for her to grow and get bigger. She still has her monthly visits with her cardiologists here in Houston & San Antonio.
As of November 16, 2017, Paislee had her full repair surgery without a blood transfusion. The surgery was successful and she was admitted for 12 days, but we are currently happy to be home recovering.
