Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Miracle of Life

Hello Everyone,

Today I decided I must share this particular miracle with you. Again yesterday our family was reminded that my Mother and her having children is a true miracle.

My Mom has Ebstein's Anomaly and she went to have tests run and the technician said they had never actually seen a patient with Ebstein's Anomaly and many have only seen it in textbooks! It is truly amazing, just like our Mom!

Ebstein's Anomaly


Ebstein's anomaly is a congenital heart defect in which the opening of the tricuspid valve is displaced towards the apex of the right ventricle of the heart. The annulus of the valve is still in the normal position. The valve leaflets, however, are to a varying degree, attached to the walls and septum of the right ventricle. There is subsequent 'atrialization' of a portion of the morphologic right ventricle (which is then contiguous with the right atrium). This causes the right atrium to be large and the anatomic right ventricle to be small in size. There may be an increased risk of this abnormality in infants of women taking lithium during the first trimester of pregnancy, and in those with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Ebstein's anomaly was named after Wilhelm Ebstein. While Ebstein's anomaly is defined as the congenital displacement of the tricuspid valve towards the apex of the right ventricle, it is often associated with other abnormalities.

The tech said she wanted to take lots of measurements and pictures of Mom’s heart, because the doctor was not going to believe that Mom has a True Ebstein’s Anomaly heart without all the pictures. She was amazed and excited with Mom’s heart.

Mom told her she used to pass out as a teenager when she worked the fields and they would splash water on her face and tell her it was a reaction to the heat and keep working. The tech said that it wasn’t the heat, it was a symptom of the Ebstein Anomaly.

Professor Wilhelm Ebstein (1836-1912), who was a professor of medicine in Gottingen, Germany, first described Ebstein anomaly in 1866. The condition accounts for less than 1% of congenital heart diseases and occurs in 1 in 210,000 live births

Without any treatment, the natural history of Ebstein’s anomaly is gloomy. A 1971 study reported that only 50% of patients survived to 13 years of age.

Imagine that! My Mother is a very strong loving and intelligent individual whom I have always admired. Little did I know she was truly a miracle. She has never had any type of surgery or help with her heart. God works in mysterious ways so remember everyone....Keep your hope, faith and love going.

I hope and pray everyone has a pain and fatigue free day and enjoys the miracles in their life.

6 comments:

THE GUYS said...

Inspiring! Thanks for the story!

Fibro Viv said...

It is pretty amazing. I have to take her to a couple of appointments on Friday and one on September 24th. They are running test and going to check to see if she can have surgery done on her knee.

She is suffering from severe pain in the knee where the cartilage no longer covers the thickened bone ends thereby causing rubbing and wearing away of the bone. The bones are now grinding each other, so we are trying to keep her off her feet. She doesn't like having to use her scooter and doesn't want to loose the use of her legs or strength, so she deals with the pain and walks sometimes.

She also has shoulder, arm, leg, well basically all over body pain. She is very strong and tries to just deal with it, but the cartilage on the knee is truly painful for her.

The test on the 24th is a stress test via injection to check her heart out for surgery. She is worried about that test, so are we!:(

God has been with her all of her life, so I trust he will continue to guide her and support her.

Thanks for reading my post.

Thanks for commenting.

Anonymous said...

This post cheered me up, and gave me hope :D

Jenno said...

Thank you for sharing this with us! I look forward to reading more of your stories of survival and triumph and hope. Many blessings and well-wishes to you from this fellow fibroite, Viv!

http://lajenno.blogspot.com
Jenno

Fibro Viv said...

Dear Anonymous,

I am glad to hear my post cheered you up and gave you hope. Without faith, love and hope we can not survive.

We all have to believe in the miracles of life. There are so many things that happen on a daily basis we are unaware of or sometimes do not notice.

I hope you have a wonderful month, year and everlasting life.

Anonymous said...

i'm learning, thanks for the story