Baby Tarnecki: Heart Surgery and Medical Expenses

In January 2022, Bill and I were blessed to find out we were expecting baby #2. At our 20 week scan, we realized this was not going to be the smooth pregnancy and delivery we had with Adilyn. At 24 weeks, we were told that our little guy showed some abnormalities in his heart and that he would most likely need open heart surgery to repair the defect, but that we would need to see a pediatric cardiologist to get an official diagnosis.

June 13th, 2022: We had a fetal echocardiogram done and spoke with the pediatric cardiologist. Our fears were confirmed and our little guy was officially diagnosed with a Critical Congenital Heart Defect, Truncus Arteriosus (TA) with a Ventricular Septal Defect. There are several types of TA and we were told that it's either Type 1 or Type 2, but we won't know for sure until he is born. This heart defect is rare and the cause is unknown. It occurs in less than 1 out of 10,000 live births, and only about 250 of those cases occur in the US every year.

Truncus Arteriosus (TA) is when the blood vessel coming out of the heart in the developing baby fails to separate completely, creating a single major artery that takes blood from both the right and left ventricles (instead of the 2 normal arteries, the pulmonary artery and the aorta). Because of the single major artery, a ventricular septal defect occurs, which is when there is a hole in the wall between the right and left ventricles, that mixes both the oxygen-rich blood (coming from the lungs) and oxygen-poor blood (coming from the body) together to go back through the one artery and get separated back to the lungs, or out to the rest of the body. Unfortunately, the increase of blood that goes to the lungs, causes the heart to work harder to pump blood to the rest of the body.

We were told that shortly after birth, our little guy will need to be taken to the NICU and then (sometime between the first few hours to the first week of life) will need to be transferred to Seattle Children's Hospital to have his first open heart surgery done for the repairs. According to our pediatric cardiologist, if all goes well with the surgery, it will be at least a 1 month stay in the hospital for recovery. Unfortunately, this is a lifelong condition that will require frequent doctors visits and multiple surgeries throughout his life as he grows.

This is definitely not something we are taking lightly. Honestly, we are so scared and anxious for everything to come, and this GoFundMe is really to assist with the many medical, travel, and misc. expenses we know are to come.

We know times are tough for everyone and monetary donations are not feasible for all, so please know that our little guy will take all the help he can get, even if that means just sending positive vibes and prayers along.

We are so thankful for each and every one of you that stopped by to read our story. Thank you so much.