In honor of CHD Awareness Week, I am going to post about 7 people who have made a huge difference in Micah's survival.
1) Dr. Steven MacDonald: Dr. MacDonald was my OB/GYN who I had just switched to and then got pregnant very quickly after meeting him. Dr. MacDonald did my 19 week "sex check" sonogram and noticed that the heart was not getting a good picture...he DID NOT tell me to worry, nor did he even mention that much about it...he just told us we were having a boy and that we got to see him again in 4 weeks. Dr. MacDonald looks at parts of the heart that according to our first echo tech, most ob's do not bother checking for...since he has his sonographer's go above and beyond the basic check, we were able to find out at 23 weeks that Micah's heart was broken, and start researching what we needed to do.
2) Dr. Charles Goebel: Not only did Dr. Goebel listen to me cry and cry those first few days of finding out about Micah, he gave me loads and loads of information and direction on what to do. He helped me decide where I would deliver, what Micah would need in terms of surgery (even with the cardiologist disagreeing) and he personally caught Micah's heart failure at least 3 times BEFORE his old cardiologist did. Dr. Goebel has taken amazing care of all three of my kids for over 6 years now and he truly is an amazing man that I am proud to have caring for my kids. He is just amazing....AMAZING!
3) Dr. Eric Mendeloff: What can I say about this man except for he is the reason my Micah is alive and well today. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must feel like to go into work everyday holding someone's baby in your hands. To have that enormous amount of stress in your life, and yet carry yourself in and not show fear or concern to the parents. He has this way about him that actually can calm you down. I had never expected to one day be faced with life and death for one of my children, however, knowing Dr. Mendeloff made handing Micah over for surgery just a little bit easier...not that it was easy...no, that is not an option, but he can calm the room. He is simply a remarkable man, I just cannot express enough in words how much he has helped me and this family.
4) Kathy Drescher, RN: Kathy is Dr. Mendeloff's nurse practitioner. Kathy is the person who met us first and told us what was going to happen with Micah. She came to my hospital room every single day before that surgery and spent as long as we needed her answering questions and listening to our worries. She was the amazing person who called us every hour during Micah's surgery to ease our fears and let us know what was happening. She is the woman who checked on Micah every single day while we were in the ICU and pediatric unit. Micah knows her and loves her and I know that he knows how special she truly is.
5) Dr. Todd Ruk: Dr. Ruk was kind enough to take my case on very late in my pregnancy. Since I wanted to deliver at Medical City so I could be with Micah, my OB was not able to deliver him. So, Dr. Ruk took me on around 28 weeks and did something incredibly special for me. I wanted to deliver Micah on the 18th...it is a lucky Jewish number...that was a Tuesday...Dr. Ruk does not work on Tuesdays, but he made a special exception for me that day because "I needed all the luck I could get". He was so caring and kind to us all, and I am very lucky that he was the doctor who cared for me during those last months and my delivery. Oh, one other bit of interesting information on him...when I first spoke to him when he took my case, he told me that he had had open heart surgery when he was 4 years old...he wanted me to see that he turned out okay...I never asked what his heart trouble was, but after Micah was born and I saw him for my 2 week follow up, I asked him...he told me that he had the same kind of heart as Micah's...only much less severe. How strange a world that I should happen to be directed to an OB who had Micah's heart...what a true act of G-d.
6) Dr. Darrell Hermann: Dr. Hermann did not come into our lives until last year, but I feel that without him, Micah could have been lost. Micah was not eating and failing to thrive so much, so Dr. Hermann placed Micah's g-button. Since Micah has received his button, he is doing so much better and I know that it is because of the nutrition he receives now. Dr. Hermann is the kind of doctor who does not forget his patients and takes great care of his patients. He was so kind and considerate to Jonathan and I, and I will never forget him and his sense of calm when he took Micah back to surgery.
7) All the other doctors and nurses who have been there along the way: All the NICU doctors and nurses, the amazing PICU nursing staff and doctors...one doctor in particular who had to be woken up at 3am one night to STOP Micah's heart because he was in a fatal rhythm, all the specialists who have cared for Micah (and the parents who were right there nervous and crazy). Just to list a few of them: Dr. Jack An, Dr. Rohn, Dr. So, Dr. Ewalt, Dr. Scheurle, Dr. Copenhaver, Dr, Berkowitz, Dr. Clapp (heart cath), Dr. Kort (heart cath), Dr. Albert, Dr. Rubin, I am sure there are more doctors I am forgetting and the nursing staffs of all the offices. I also thank Clarissa and Jackie for checking in on us during our hospital stays...you were amazing and the support was tremendous. You all have been amazing!!! Thank you.
8) I am NOT SURE HOW I FORGOT DR. WRIGHT so this will be 8 people!!! I guess I just have her so much in my thoughts that I forgot to talk about her! She is the amazing cardiologist who started to care for Micah at his 1 year mark...she has been nothing but FANTASTIC and wonderful to us. She has taken better care of Micah than most doctors would dream of doing. She has held my hand, called me, come to visit Micah when she did not have to and just been a dream come true to our family. She has checked out Noah and Leah and told me that they both have perfect hearts and she has listened to my every concern and worry and not minimized any of it. She trusts me and I trust her...she told me once that 50% of Micah belongs to her, and while I jokingly told her that she never had to carry him around and deliver him...I have to agree and maybe even disagree that she holds a great deal of stake in him. She is part of our family and we love and adore her!!!!
If you have a chance, please go to our heart support groups website: Heart-N-Hands at heartnhands.org and learn more about congenital heart defects/disease. There is so much that needs to be learned about it and yet there is so little being done.
Heart Hugs!
Samantha
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