Baby’s birth may have saved life of his mother
Published: March 16, 2006
Oxford resident Kelly Wilson did not realize that by bringing a life into the world, she would potentially be saving her own.
But without giving birth to son Ian Christopher, the 28-year-old would have remained clueless that a part of her was missing — two branching leaflets from a heart mitral valve.
“My baby saved my life,” Wilson said. “If it went undetected, who knows what would have happened.”
After undergoing a C-section to deliver Ian on Oct. 18 of this past year at McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, Wilson immediately suffered from an extreme shortness of breath, almost like a panic attack. She was treated for pulmonary edema, a condition that involves fluid-filled lungs.
After seemingly recovering, Wilson was sent home. Three days later, the condition returned, forcing the new mother to seek further medical attention. She was referred to cardiology specialist of Greater Cincinnati Cardiovascular Consultants, Dr. David Babbitt, who ordered an ultrasound of Wilson’s heart. What he found was what he thought was a leaky valve that needed replacing.
“They did not realize at the time that it (the mitral valve) was not only damaged, but essentially non-existent,” Wilson said. “I was shocked more than anything. It’s one of those times in your life you need to turn and face.”
Wilson was set up with Dr. James M. Wilson, director of cardiac surgery at Mercy Hospital in Fairfield, for valve replacement surgery in February. Yet, when Dr. Wilson agreed to implant a new tissue valve, he did not realize he would discover the birth defect known as parachute mitral valve, a congenital deformity of the mitral valve in which there is only one papillary muscle present.
According to Dr. Wilson, rather than having two diverging papillary muscles, Wilson only had one big fibrous tissue with a single hole that had trouble opening for blood passage. The surgeon said that the condition is extremely rare for people Wilson’s age, and that he finds more cases in younger children.
“The surgeon told me he couldn’t believe I had made it thus far (without it being detected),” Wilson said.
Throughout her childhood and pregnancy, Wilson never had any striking indication that a problem existed with her mitral valve.
“I had a pretty normal childhood,” she said. “I went to the pool every summer, took tennis lessons. I never had any idea.”
As a student at Talawanda High School, Wilson had participated in marching band and was on the swim team for one year. Until her graduation from Miami University in 1999, Wilson continued her involvement in the band, which included demanding drum corps practices in the summer. During simple workouts at Miami’s Recreational Center, Wilson would notice quick breathing, but she was always able to maintain the pace like everyone else.
“I was never an athletic superstar, but I wouldn’t say that I was physically challenged either,” she said.
Wilson noticed this shortness of breath while pregnant with Ian, but justified the cause of the problem as being “short and having a big baby.” Other than that, Wilson experienced what she considers a normal pregnancy void of morning sickness and weird food cravings.
Despite the past, Wilson is ready to move on to an active future with her replacement valve.
During surgery, Dr. Wilson implanted a completely new tissue valve derived from a cow. Wilson opted for a tissue valve rather than a mechanical valve for several reasons.
“Mechanical valves last forever, and a tissue valve is only good for the life of the animal (which is about 15 years),” she said. “But the benefit is that I won’t have to take heavy blood thinners for the rest of my life.”
Wilson wanted to avoid taking the blood thinner, Coumadin, because it is known to cause birth defects if taken during pregnancy.
“I am not ready for that (the thought of not being able to have children again) at this point,” she said.
She will, however, have to take an aspirin each day, and get another replacement tissue valve when the time comes.
But in the short term, Wilson is focusing on her stages of recovery, and will soon return to her job as audience development coordinator at the Miami University Art Museum. Part of this process has been recovering from broken ribs incurred during surgery to have access to the heart valve, and relearning how to breathe properly.
For now, Wilson is content with the fact that her surgery has made her “110 percent” better than when started, a success with which she sets high goals for herself.
“I want to be able to run a marathon without running out of breath,” she said.
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