A newborn baby underwent open heart surgery only 7 days after the scan found a rare condition

Small newborn Baby She underwent open heart surgery only one week after a scan revealed that she was suffering from a rare condition.

The worried mother, Christina Harmon, was only three months pregnant. doctor I found that her baby was facing a life-threatening problem.

Baby Shane’s heart was underdeveloped and required surgery and intensive medical assistance as soon as he was born.

However, there was little fight against Shane who survived cardiac surgery, stenting, tube feeding, and complex medical care at home.

The miracle baby reports that he did it even while facing Covid’s crisis. mirror..

31-year-old Christina took a two-year career break from her job as a nursery assistant in North Belfast and decided to make her youngest son survive his toughest days.

She states: “Looking at him now, it’s almost impossible to imagine what he experienced. But he’s a little fighter, and I know he’s always that character, calm and happy. I know.

“He was very vulnerable when he was born. We were taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital in just four days and he underwent cardiotomy in seven days.

“He had another surgery in July, so he needs more surgery, but he’s doing really well and everything is going well.”

When Christina left her home in Old Park, Belfast and scanned for three months at the Jubilee Royal Maternity Hospital, she wanted everything to work, just like any other pregnant woman.

However, the fluid around the baby is a sign of a heart problem, and when born six months later, surgeons discovered that the heart was not completely formed. That is, one pump instead of two pumped blood around the system.

At the age of four, he was sent to Birmingham Children’s Hospital with his parents for professional care, after which he spent another two weeks caring for the Royal Victoria team in Belfast.

And at the age of five weeks, Christina was able to take the boy home.

“When I took him home, I thought he would get better sooner,” she said.

“When we returned from Royal, we didn’t want anyone near him or me in case he sniffed, and when Covid hit, we were really isolated. But to be honest, I cherished it.

“If there’s one positive thing that comes out of Covid, it’s given us the opportunity to isolate and protect Shane and keep his family safe.”

According to Christina, the family has a telemedicine system at home that allows them to attend a Skype appointment with Shane’s nurse Rosie every Wednesday.

“She had a huge monitor at the end and could see him clearly. She examined him and answered all my questions. It’s a personal service in our home. It was like providing me with so much comfort and safety without risking going to the hospital. “

The Clark Clinic at Belfast Children’s Hospital introduced video conferencing in 2007 to support postoperative care and monitoring of infants and toddlers with major congenital heart disease.

Also, over the past two years, the Hospital Services Ltd team has worked with the HSC Board to co-develop the service, making it more scalable and allowing mothers like Christina to install the system at home.

This technology allows Clark Clinic physicians to monitor patients for comfort and safety at home and provide emergency medical advice throughout the year, especially during a pandemic.

Christina said: “The telemedicine system returned to Clark Clinic two weeks ago because we don’t need it now and we need other families. It was a godsend for us.

“Today, Shane is thriving and thank a lot of people, from the great surgeons in Birmingham to the RVH staff, the telemedicine team, and the families who took care of nurses Rosie and Ronan. And love.

“When I was told there was a problem with Shane’s mind, I thought I would keel over. I’ve never been able to share a really scary photo of what he looked like after surgery. It was very miserable.

“But we are here to tell a story. I want other families to understand that the best thing I did was organized. I made a list of everything and home Cleaning and disinfecting, creating a diary ready for questions, accepting any help and taking any advice.

According to Christina, the family was very well supported by the Children’s Heartbeat Trust Charity, which works with Clark Clinic.

Shane will be one year old on December 30th. “We live together for the rest of our lives and are ready to face the next year,” his mom said that year.

“If we can face this, we know that we can face anything, so if there is a moment when you feel hopeless like me, take a moment, take a breath, With the help, take the next step and you’ll get there. “

Children’s Heartbeat Trust provides emotional and financial support to heart families throughout Northern Ireland.