HEALTHCARE

9-month-old doing 'normal baby things' after groundbreaking heart surgery

Beth Reese Cravey
beth.cravey@jacksonville.com
Ivy Finn gets a hug from big brother Bear Finn. In July 2018, while still in her mother's womb, Ivy underwent an experimental procedure in Houston to repair heart defects. She was born last September and returned home to Jacksonville April 30. [Provided by TheCapps.co]

Baby Ivy Finn and Thomas Moon, a pediatric cardiologist at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, recently met for the first time.

Well, the first time in person.

When Ivy was still in her mother's womb, about 20 weeks along, Moon diagnosed her with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped and cannot properly pump oxygen-rich blood to the body. Later came another diagnosis that worsened Ivy’s case: She also had an intact atrial septum, when the natural opening between the heart’s upper chambers failed to develop.

The diagnoses and Moon's referral led Ivy's parents, Geoffrey and Rachel Finn of Jacksonville, to Texas Children’s Fetal Center in Houston, where doctors performed an experimental, first-of-its-kind "intervention" on her heart last July. As a result, she survived her Sept. 18 delivery without complications. After undergoing a second surgery a few months later and recovering in Houston, the family was reunited with her 4-year-old brother Bear at their Avondale home April 30.

At her first cardiology appointment back in Jacksonville in May, they also reunited with Moon.

"We are all super happy to be back with our favorite, Dr. Moon," Geoffrey Finn said. "The first time he saw her, she was still inside Rachel, and her future didn't look very bright. But now she is thriving and does all sorts of 'normal baby things.' … He was the first to diagnose Ivy and helped us so much through this process. We couldn’t be happier that he will play a huge role in Ivy’s care for the foreseeable future."

Moon could not be reached for an update, but Finn said the appointment was "very encouraging."

"We were so happy to hear another good report for our baby girl. Everyone is really pleased with how she is doing," he said of the now 9-month-old.

Moon made his initial diagnosis via a fetal echocardiogram, but Wolfson does not perform the kind of fetal procedure Ivy needed, which would use a needle to create a hole in the atrial septum. So he referred the Finns first to Boston Children’s Hospital, then to Texas Children’s.

Both hospitals declined that procedure because of the severity of Ivy’s condition and the risk to her mother, but Texas Children’s offered the experimental option. That procedure, in which surgeons would use a laser to burn a tiny hole in the septum and then insert a stent, gave Ivy a "fighting chance" to survive the rigors of delivery, doctors said.

Ivy was discharged from Texas Children's in late March, but the family had to remain nearby in Houston for another month to make sure she remained stable. Shortly before they were scheduled to leave, she gave them a scare.

"She did catch some sort of viral illness that caused her to run a fever for five days and look very poorly. … We decided to have her checked out," Geoffrey Finn said. "She was admitted for observation and to make sure that she could handle the illness on her own, cardiovascularly speaking … and she did so without any additional medication or oxygen support, which was very good news indeed."

Since then, the family settled in again in their Avondale house after the long detour in Houston. Finally being home, all together,  was "surreal," said Geoffrey Finn.

"Seeing our son and our daughter together felt so right. We felt like the worst was behind us, and something beautiful was right in front of us," he said. "Words really don't do justice to how wonderful it was to be a family together again. Rachel and I both sat down that night and looked at each other and commented on how it almost felt like we never left home."

Family, friends and the community have been supportive every step of the way and can continue to help through the family's GoFundMe page, said Finn, a St. Vncent's Medical Center emergency room nurse. Wife Rachel works from home as an administrative assistant for a water-damage restoration company.

"The financial side of uprooting and moving to a new city where your child is in the hospital for 192 days is complicated at best," he said. "The support has been overwhelming. To every one who has prayed for us, you all truly made a difference.

"Ivy's odds were not good," he continued. "In fact, they were terrible. Yet, here she is. Beautiful, happy and wonderful. We thank God often for what he has done. We thank him for our amazing team of doctors and nurses who have become like family to us. We thank him that we are home as a family of four."

Beth Reese Cravey: (904) 359-4109

To help the Finn family with expenses, go to bit.ly/2WFixn2.

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