Four months ago, I heard a St. Louis surgeon tell me he planned to stop my daughter’s heart, patch two holes, then start her back up and set her on a path to full recovery.
I am humbled as I look back at that moment like it was ages ago, in the rearview. It was days filled with stress and anxiety and fear, but for her, objects were even smaller than they appeared.
Our Livy is 14 months on Monday, and though we were told her progress post-surgery would be significant, even we sit back at times in awe.
Our journey began in January with Dr. Justin Nowlin, formerly at Cox Monett Hospital, hearing a heart murmur and suggesting we get it check out.
We did, and he was right. Liv had two holes, an atrial septal defect, which is common and normally heals itself, but also a ventricular septal defect, which if left untreated could have serious repercussions.
As the early months of 2022 dragged on, Liv’s weight stalled around 11-12 pounds for months. At 4-6 months, she was in the -9th percentile for her weight — and that’s not a typo.
As it was explained to us, once the blood in her heart stopped leaking through the hole the wrong way, her circuitry would be complete and she wouldn’t waste so much energy pumping blood back where it needed to go.
My wife and I are logical enough that it made sense, but would it pan out?
Spoiler alert, it did. At the time of surgery, Liv had managed to reach 15.6 pounds. In just a month’s time, she packed on 3.5 pounds.
At her one-year appointment, that weight chart appeared again, and much to our delight, she is now in the 49th percentile in weight. Phew.
Her progress is not limited to her chunky pumpkin- like thighs or her little baby potbelly.
Since surgery, her energy has picked up, she’s now eating baby food at least twice per day, and she went from sitting up to walking in about 45 days.
Now, she’s borderline running, though her balance is still as suspect as a drunk try to escape custody.
One of her favorite games is “Boo!” She runs circles around our island in the kitchen, and we stay a couple of corners ahead of her and pop out with a “boo!”
If you get her good enough, she’ll fall down laughing.
Communication-wise, we pushed sign language on her early, so her non-verbal skills are easily interpreted.
She is starting to talk, as well. Not counting dada and mama, her first word was “dog” on account of our two mutts being mutts, and I don’t know if it’s because of its behavior, but Liv had dubbed our cat “dog” too.
Her newest word is “thanks,” which she says in the most darling high-pitched squeak you can imagine.
Her favorite word, though, is “yeah!” She says it in all manner of ways, and if you listen and watch closely, her string of “yeahs” can be interpreted as a full sentence.
It also gives us opportunities to ask her questions a baby would say “yeah” to. Do you like sweet potatoes? Do you love your sister? Is that your favorite toy? Can I have it?
Ok maybe for that last one she shakes her head no and runs off, but the rest are surefire answered in the affirmative.
All of this joy and progress would not have been possible without the medical personnel that caught the condition in the first place.
We started visiting Cox Monett Hospital right as the new one opened, and through my wife’s pregnancy and birth, had very little complaints of consequence.
When Dr. Nowlin found the murmur, he sent us to Dr. Alan Tong in Springfield and Tong sent us to St. Louis Children’s for the surgery. Ultimately, it was a Monett doctor working in the hospital in which she was born who got the ball rolling and saved her many years of complications, time and energy spent.
That kind of local tie is special to me, and something Barry County should be proud of.
In fact, maybe little Livy could stand to learn a couple more words — “Barry County Brawl!”
Kyle Troutman has served as the editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014. In 2017, he was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers, and in 2022, he won a Golden Dozen Award from ISWINE. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@cherryroad.com.
