CT scan results

Here is just a quick summary of what the CT scan showed. The specialist said that it was not a pulmonary sequestration although there is some sort of abnormality in the lungs. The CT scan shows some enlarged bronchials and some cells that appear black on the CT scan so there is also something not normal about them. The specialist said he didn't have a name for this abnormality as it is not something common. The only way to "fix" something like this would be to take it out, and to do that, he would have to take out the whole lower left lobe of the lung, but considering that it has not caused any difficulties for Nena yet, that option seemed a little drastic in his opinion. Should it cause pneumonia, he would be concerned that there would be some lung scarring, possibly damaging other areas of the lung. If she would have several cases of pneumonia, we would probably have to take it out. If she continues healthy like she has been so far, and has no signs of development on follow-up X-rays then we would probably leave it alone. So it sounds like good news. Although part of me would like to have a permanent solution and know that she's "fixed," it's also good to be able to avoid surgery for the moment.

Pulmonary Sequestration

I have honestly been putting off writing about this. Mostly because we don't know much at this point about how this is going to evolve. On my 20 week ultrasound, we found out our baby girl has a pulmonary sequestration. There is more info here about what that is. To summarize in very simple terms, it's some lung cells that separated from the other lung cells in early development. It has it's own blood supply, but doesn't do anything. It does need to be removed by surgery after baby is born. How soon depends on how baby is handling having it in there. If it causes problems, it could need to come out immediately. If not, it would need to come out somewhere between 6-12 months. And while no one wants to hear that their newborn/baby will have to have surgery, in most cases, this is a treatable condition, and kids go on to have normal lung function. We are hoping for the best possible outcome, and trying to stay positive. Only time will tell how baby tolerates having it there, and if it will shrink, grow in size, or stay the same. It will be monitored monthly by ultrasound to make sure there is not a buildup of fluid in the chest cavity, and to make sure that it's not growing and causing problems to other organs. While the possibility exists of a few nasty complications, the risk for these is small. The specialist in town did say that currently it is bigger than what they usually see at 20 weeks, but this next ultrasound and subsequent ultrasounds could show changes, so treatment can only be determined as we see how things progress. So here's to a healthy baby! We appreciate your thoughts and prayers.