Making Memories with Mikey
Donation protected
Late last year, my amazing sister, Melissa Lovf, went to her 12week pregnancy scan, and received some concerning results, that it appeared her baby had some kind of heart issue. As the pregnancy progressed, we found out he was a boy, and they named him Mikey. As he grew, they could do some more in depth ultrasounds, and we received the news that the heart defect was in fact Hyperplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), one of the more severe heart defects there is. But there was hope, there are surgeries , while risky, that he could have, to rebuild the heart to function enough to live a relatively normal life.
Mel was induced and gave birth to Michael Johan Nielson Lovf on 7th June 2016, and after some quick cuddles and stabilizing, he was transferred over to the Royal Children's Hospital.
Less than 24hours later, we got the first lot of bad news, there was a new complication picked up post birth called TAPVD (Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Drainage). In short, There were issues with the veins not going back to where they should, which was unsustainable. So at 36hours old Mikey, our brave little lion man, underwent his first open heart surgery. We were lucky this surgery was a success, but more surgeries were to come. There were steps forward and back, and other surgeries involved putting in a shunt, some work on his diaphragm, and to clean out an infection that had developed. But eventually he was discharged out of Paediatric ICU, to the cardiac ward, and eventually home, until the next open heart surgery, sometime between 3-9months.
After 2 weeks at home, Mikey was struggling to keep his feeds down, so was taken up to RCH and they admitted him as a precaution. While they were keeping an eye on him, they had suspicions that his veins may have narrowed, so took him for some detailed scans. These scans showed narrowing of the pulmonary veins. The worst new was there were was only one option, and that surgery had minimal success rate. But while there was still a chance for a quality of life, we would continue. The actual surgery was a success, but the waiting would begin, to see in the veins continued to narrow. We waited about 6 weeks, and on 15th Sept. The results came back. The surgery didn't work, and there was nothing else that could be done for Mikey, except to make him comfortable. The guide they gave is a few months at most.
The wonderful team at RCH have supported us to get Mikey home while he is well, so we can make memories and take him out on adventures in the time we have left.
Living off just Melissa's income, meant she needed to return back to work sooner than she would have liked, but the news that he wouldn't make it, meant Melissa wants to be at home with him to make memories. This understandably has created financial stress, which is the last thing she needs at his point in time. Also, there are costs involved with making memories with Mikey. Going to Zoo's aquariums and other adventures also adds up, not to mention hospital parking costs, and medications. While we are trying to focus on making happy memories, we are aware of funeral expenses as well.
So many people have offered to help in any way they can, and to everyone, we say thank you for your love and support. It has taken a lot of encouragement for me to get Mel to relent and set up this page. Please do not feel obligated to donate, or pass on this link, but if you do, we thank you. Also if anyone has any ideas or suggestions on things we can do to make memories with Mikey (we already ticked off a Bulldog's premiership win!), we are open to suggestions.
Thank you,
Aunty Nicky
Mel was induced and gave birth to Michael Johan Nielson Lovf on 7th June 2016, and after some quick cuddles and stabilizing, he was transferred over to the Royal Children's Hospital.
Less than 24hours later, we got the first lot of bad news, there was a new complication picked up post birth called TAPVD (Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Drainage). In short, There were issues with the veins not going back to where they should, which was unsustainable. So at 36hours old Mikey, our brave little lion man, underwent his first open heart surgery. We were lucky this surgery was a success, but more surgeries were to come. There were steps forward and back, and other surgeries involved putting in a shunt, some work on his diaphragm, and to clean out an infection that had developed. But eventually he was discharged out of Paediatric ICU, to the cardiac ward, and eventually home, until the next open heart surgery, sometime between 3-9months.
After 2 weeks at home, Mikey was struggling to keep his feeds down, so was taken up to RCH and they admitted him as a precaution. While they were keeping an eye on him, they had suspicions that his veins may have narrowed, so took him for some detailed scans. These scans showed narrowing of the pulmonary veins. The worst new was there were was only one option, and that surgery had minimal success rate. But while there was still a chance for a quality of life, we would continue. The actual surgery was a success, but the waiting would begin, to see in the veins continued to narrow. We waited about 6 weeks, and on 15th Sept. The results came back. The surgery didn't work, and there was nothing else that could be done for Mikey, except to make him comfortable. The guide they gave is a few months at most.
The wonderful team at RCH have supported us to get Mikey home while he is well, so we can make memories and take him out on adventures in the time we have left.
Living off just Melissa's income, meant she needed to return back to work sooner than she would have liked, but the news that he wouldn't make it, meant Melissa wants to be at home with him to make memories. This understandably has created financial stress, which is the last thing she needs at his point in time. Also, there are costs involved with making memories with Mikey. Going to Zoo's aquariums and other adventures also adds up, not to mention hospital parking costs, and medications. While we are trying to focus on making happy memories, we are aware of funeral expenses as well.
So many people have offered to help in any way they can, and to everyone, we say thank you for your love and support. It has taken a lot of encouragement for me to get Mel to relent and set up this page. Please do not feel obligated to donate, or pass on this link, but if you do, we thank you. Also if anyone has any ideas or suggestions on things we can do to make memories with Mikey (we already ticked off a Bulldog's premiership win!), we are open to suggestions.
Thank you,
Aunty Nicky
Organizer
Nicky O'Keefe
Organizer
Yarraville VIC
