Wednesday 30 May 2012

Specialist

Yet another eventful week here in the Hoover household!

On Monday I got a call from Mt. Sinai hospital in Toronto.  My OB had sent a referral and they were booking an appointment for me to come in on Wednesday.  I hadn't yet had the follow up appointment with my doc about the ultrasound the previous Thursday so I was surprised!  We booked the appointment and I called my doc's office to find out what's up.  I guess my OB was concerned about the sizes of our girls and it appeared that one had more amniotic fluid surrounding her than the other, and the other one appeared to have an empty bladder...these are early signs of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (you can read more about TTTS here: http://www.tttsfoundation.org/)

TTTS, if left untreated is 80% fatal for both fetuses, so it's very important to have an ultrasound by a specialist to determine if treatment is needed. TTTS can only happen in identical twins that share a placenta.  The treatment I would likely have had is a laser ablation surgery, where they use a laser to burn any blood vessels between the two babies, which would hopefully cause the babies to even out their growth and them to get nutrients from the placenta rather than giving and taking from the other twin.  The only hospital in Ontario to offer this surgery is Mount Sinai, with Dr. Ryan performing the surgery.  I met Dr. Ryan today, he went over the technician's notes and ultrasound pictures and he confirmed the results.

So, what are the results?  There are NO SIGNS of TTTS at all!!!  Our little girls look very healthy, strong, growing completely normally!!!  The ultrasound took over 2 hours, and was incredibly thorough.  She listened to vessels in the brain, heart, checked the kidneys, bladders, bones, chambers of their hearts, everything!  Everything was perfect!  Another positive was that both of the umbilical cords attach near the centre of the placenta, which is a good sign that TTTS is unlikely to develop!  We are SO relieved and thankful, words can't express it!  I'm not sure where things went wrong with my previous ultrasounds.  The only thing I can really guess is that since I have a different technician every time, things are measured slightly differently by each tech, so things can seem to be wrong when they're really not.

I know so many of you are pulling for us, and we're so thankful for your positive thoughts, they mean so much!  Thank you!  I didn't get any ultrasound pictures today (sorry!), but there will be more next Thursday!

2 comments:

Tracy said...

That's so awesome! Following your journey has been fun and a learning experience. I am caught up in the story of these girls and find I can't wait to meet them! :)

Sarah said...

Thanks Tracy! I'm about ready for the stress and worries to stop lol, but it's so neat to be growing two people! I can't wait to meet them either :)