Lilith needs another heart surgery.

Hello, My name is Luis Gonzalez and we are working on get some help from you guys due to a Surgery needed for my daughter Lilith Gonzalez, she is now 5 years old and she need a surgery to get a pacemaker, She had a disease called Tetralogy of Fallot and had a previous surgery to correct it, the first surgery was a success but one of the valves was not fully corrected since the size of it was too small it was ripped and on the future she might need a new valve to help her and avoid any further problems, She now have a “normal life” doing some ballet and other activities but on July the Dr detected another problem, the heart rate on some parts of the day goes down the 40 Bpm which is not good for her age, doing some research looks like the patch put on the first surgery the scar obstruct some nerves which are the ones in charge of making her heart beats, So she needs a Pacemaker to help her heart to beat on a normal way, The surgery for a Pacemaker could be from 40k to 100k. Lilith is the most strong children I know, She is just awesome, make our lives better every time she smiles, she is very intelligent and a very lovely girl There is nothing in this world that will stop her, My wife and I we are both very blessed to have her on our life, please help us to keep raising her and keep making her happy, she now says she wants to be a doctor in the future and I’m sure she will be one day.

Thank you for your help and Pray for my daughter, Lilith.

There is a little bit more information about the Tetralogy of Fallot

is a rare condition caused by a combination of four heart defects that are present at birth (congenital).

These defects, which affect the structure of the heart, cause oxygen-poor blood to flow out of the heart and to the rest of the body. Infants and children with tetralogy of Fallot usually have blue-tinged skin because their blood doesn't carry enough oxygen.

Tetralogy of Fallot is often diagnosed during infancy or soon after. However, tetralogy of Fallot might not be detected until later in life in some adults, depending on the severity of the defects and symptoms.

With early diagnosis followed by appropriate surgical treatment, most children and adults who have tetralogy of Fallot live relatively normal lives, though they'll need regular medical care throughout life and might have restrictions on exercise.

Tetralogy of Fallot symptoms vary, depending on the extent of obstruction of blood flow out of the right ventricle and into the lungs. Signs and symptoms may include:

• A bluish coloration of the skin caused by blood low in oxygen (cyanosis)

• Shortness of breath and rapid breathing, especially during feeding or exercise

• Loss of consciousness (fainting)

• Clubbing of fingers and toes — an abnormal, rounded shape of the nail bed

• Poor weight gain

• Tiring easily during play or exercise

• Irritability

• Prolonged crying

• A heart murmur

Tet spells

Sometimes, babies who have tetralogy of Fallot will suddenly develop deep blue skin, nails and lips after crying or feeding, or when agitated.

These episodes are called tet spells and are caused by a rapid drop in the amount of oxygen in the blood. Tet spells are most common in young infants, around 2 to 4 months old. Toddlers or older children might instinctively squat when they're short of breath. Squatting increases blood flow to the lungs.

Causes

Tetralogy of Fallot occurs during fetal growth, when the baby's heart is developing. While factors such as poor maternal nutrition, viral illness or genetic disorders might increase the risk of this condition, in most cases the cause of tetralogy of Fallot is unknown.

The four abnormalities that make up the tetralogy of Fallot include:

• Pulmonary valve stenosis. Pulmonary valve stenosis is a narrowing of the pulmonary valve — the valve that separates the lower right chamber of the heart (right ventricle) from the main blood vessel leading to the lungs (pulmonary artery).

Narrowing (constriction) of the pulmonary valve reduces blood flow to the lungs. The narrowing might also affect the muscle beneath the pulmonary valve. In some severe cases, the pulmonary valve doesn't form properly (pulmonary atresia) and causes reduced blood flow to the lungs.

• Ventricular septal defect. A ventricular septal defect is a hole (defect) in the wall (septum) that separates the two lower chambers of the heart — the left and right ventricles. The hole allows deoxygenated blood in the right ventricle — blood that has circulated through the body and is returning to the lungs to replenish its oxygen supply — to flow into the left ventricle and mix with oxygenated blood fresh from the lungs.

Blood from the left ventricle also flows back to the right ventricle in an inefficient manner. This ability for blood to flow through the ventricular septal defect reduces the supply of oxygenated blood to the body and eventually can weaken the heart.

• Overriding aorta. Normally the aorta — the main artery leading out to the body — branches off the left ventricle. In tetralogy of Fallot, the aorta is shifted slightly to the right and lies directly above the ventricular septal defect.

In this position the aorta receives blood from both the right and left ventricles, mixing the oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle with the oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle.

• Right ventricular hypertrophy. When the heart's pumping action is overworked, it causes the muscular wall of the right ventricle to thicken. Over time this might cause the heart to stiffen, become weak and eventually fail.

Some children or adults who have tetralogy of Fallot may have other heart defects, such as a hole between the heart's upper chambers (atrial septal defect), a right aortic arch or abnormalities of the coronary arteries.

Risk factors

While the exact cause of tetralogy of Fallot is unknown, various factors might increase the risk of a baby being born with this condition. These risk factors include:

• A viral illness during pregnancy, such as rubella (German measles)

• Alcoholism during pregnancy

• Poor nutrition during pregnancy

• A mother older than age 40

• A parent who has tetralogy of Fallot

• The presence of Down syndrome or DiGeorge syndrome

Complications

All babies who have tetralogy of Fallot need corrective surgery. Without treatment, your baby might not grow and develop properly.

Your baby may also be at an increased risk of serious complications, such as infective endocarditis — an infection of the inner lining of the heart or heart valve caused by a bacterial infection.Untreated cases of tetralogy of Fallot usually develop severe complications over time, which might result in death or disability by early adulthood.