TGA (Transposition of the Great Arteries) 
This means that the main arteries going in and out of the heart are switched (where they should be going in, they go out and vice versa), these can normally be corrected but Charlie also has a VSD.

VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect) 
This is a hole in the heart, in Charlie’s case this hole is in the bottom left chamber of the heart, this can also be corrected assuming the hole is not too large and no other problems exist, in Charlie’s case there is an STV.

STV (Straddling Tricuspid Valve) 
This means that the Tricuspid valve in the heart is lying over the hole, in Charlie’s case the valve is too close to correct without causing severe damage to the valve which could result in death.
Combine the TGA, VSD and STV together and you have a very faulty heart.
The STV cannot be corrected meaning the VSD cannot be repaired meaning the TGA has no benefit of being corrected because it will make no difference to the function of the heart due to the VSD and STV.

So what could be done? 
Charlie’s first op at GOSH in December 06 was a minor one, he was given anaesthetic and taken into theatre, going in through his groin with a small incision they followed the main artery to his heart and entered it, once inside the heart they found theVSD and made it slightly bigger, they then went to the top chambers and made another hole so the oxygenated blood could flow to his major organs better. This was only a temporary emergency fix to give the doctors time to figure out what can be done in the next op.

Charlie’s second op
This op was major open heart surgery and was carried out in January 07 at GOSH. A P.A band was put around one of his arteries going in to his heart to restrict the blood flow to relieve pressure in his heart. 7 days later after spending time in intensive care and HDU we were allowed to take Charlie back to our local hospital where we stayed for 2 days.

Charlie’s third op 
15 days after his second op Charlie was admitted back to JPH after a visit from the community nurse, she noticed Charlie’s was looking grey and had low saturation levels, Charlie was given an echo which revealed that the PA band was to tight which meant that not enough blood was mixing in his heart. We were transferred back to GOSH the next day for a Diagnostic cardiac catheterisation which is where a catheter is inserted through his groin again up to his heart with a die mix to see how blood is mixing.

Charlie’s Fourth op
The day after his third op Charlie was taken down for his second open heart surgery (his fourth operation so far), from a drain vein from his right arm they put in a (junction) a polyester tube to his pulmary artery  which will increase the blood flow to his lungs, they then closed off the pulmary artery to his heart, so in effect the blood flows from his body, to his lungs, then to his heart, not how it should, be, blood to his heart, then to lungs, then to heart again, then to his body.

Charlie’s Fifth op
Five days after Charlie’s fifth op we were told we could take him home after a chest x-ray and an echo, the doctor found from the echo the wall of Charlie’s heart was collapsing due to too much pressure within the heart, we were told that he had to have another open heart operation the next day. To correct this problem they needed to unstitch the pulmary artery and reconnect it, but this was not successful as the surgeon stitched it too well!! This was their preferred option!. Plan B was to insert a homograph which is a tissue valve (not Charlie tissue) which reconnected the pulmary artery through another polyester tube basically bypassing the original connection. After18 days at GOSH we were allowed home.

Charlie has given us a few scares since we have been home, but he is coping well and slowly gaining weight, he has given us much joy though plenty of heartache for us all, but he his strong and brave and our little hero.

For the Future
We are currently waiting for Charlie’s appointment for an MRI scan at GOSH , this will determine when his next op will be but it should be sometime in May/June 08. 
Charlie’s condition is not one that can be rectified after a few operations or “fixed“ and forgotten about, this will be an ongoing thing for us all through the years to come, and with the strong possibility of Charlie needing a heart transplant when he is older, and we know it’s not going to be easy.