Atrial Septal Defect, What Fun.

Where to begin?

Well, almost 2 years ago, our doctor heard a slight murmur when she listened to Mr Bump’s chest and sent him for an echocardiogram.

It turned out that he had two holes in his heart, which in all likelihood would close over by themselves.

Not a problem. We forgot all about it.

Fast-forward to yesterday, when Mr Bump had another echocardiogram to confirm that the holes had indeed closed.

Slight problem. Hmmm.

The larger of the two has actually grown in that time (to roughly keep pace with the size of his heart), from 8mm to 12mm in diameter.

The good news is that there are no serious health issues for Mr Bump at the moment, although it may explain why he still has had such frequent attacks of croup.

The bad news is that because of the size of the hole, his paediatric cardiologist believes that a patch will not be enough, and Mr Bump will need surgery.

This year, so that it doesn’t interfere with kindergarten next year.

We have an appointment with the surgeon on the 23rd of September, when we’ll find out exactly what that will involve.

The actual problem is called Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), which is actually more common in girls, but I guess we got lucky.

Another way we got lucky is that ASD can usually be treated with a minor procedure not involving surgery.

Not this little chicken. We’re getting the whole kit and caboodle.

Because from what I’ve read, “surgery” in this case means open-heart surgery, with a heart-lung bypass machine. Scary stuff.

The really fun part is that we’ll be going through this while doing all the stuff involved in finding, buying and moving into our new home. I can’t wait.

At least it won’t be the first time that Mr Bump’s had surgery. He had a medical circumcision in July last year, so he has a vague idea of what it will be like.

I have my fingers crossed that the surgeon will take one look at the test results and say “No surgery for you, m’ boy. We’ll be able to patch that little hole up in a jiffy.”

First, moving, now this. I just hope these things don’t come in threes.