Maybe Surgery, Maybe Not

My name is Marriah, and I'm six months old, and I would like to know... Who the heck is Glenn?

During my six months of (mostly) wonderful life, I have been to the doctors many times. Up until the last appointment, talk of a Glenn Procedure, an open-heart surgery, was a matter of "when," not "if." During the latest appointment, my doctor was not longer certain that I would need a Glenn.

The specific Glenn proposed is to directly connect the Superior Vena Cava to the Pulmanory Artery. Normally spent blood, from the body, enters the right atrium on its way through the heart before heading to the lungs to be oxygenated. In my case, with Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome, the right ventricle isn't very efficient at moving blood to the lungs. In my case, the doctors had planned to take the blood coming from my upper body, through the superior vena cava, and skip the right heart, going strait to the pulmanory artery. Spent blood would still come from my lower body through the right heart, to the lungs.

Well, lately, the doctor is no longer certain that I need a Glenn at all. I still have a substandard right heart, but it may be adequate. Some may wonder, "Well, if it's substandart why not go for the surgery anyway?" Good question, and the answer is pretty strait forward; the less you mess with the heart, the better off you are. If my condition provides a heart that works well enough, then we're going to leave it alone.

In the mean time, I'm still being a normal baby. I've figured out how to roll around, I get lost in navigation sometimes, but that's because I haven't yet figured out how to crawl. Soon, though, probably too soon for my parents to be ready. Mommy feeds me a solid meal almost every day. I get so excited when she does!

Lastly, I got my tied up tongue fixed. It was a quick snip, a little pain, hardly any blood, and it was over.

Things I like:
Sitting with mommy or daddy and playing baby games.
Sitting with a couple toys.
Peek-a-boo.
Getting tickled.
Eating baby cereal.

Things I tolerate:
Taking a bath.
Getting my diaper changed.

Things I don't like:
Being hungry.
Being too full.
The part between taking a bath and before cuddling with mommy.
Getting stuck (by rolling or falling from sitting into an akward position)