Tetralogy of fallot

I have never really opened up about my condition but this is some basic information about it I'm sharing to it being CHD awareness week so please feel free to share this. In 1888 a French doctor, etienne Louis Arthur fallot which is where the name comes from it was mentioned by other doctors previous to this. It occurs more in men than women. It is a complex condition as it had four different heart abnormalities although they may not all be present each child with TOF is different. These are, pulmonary stenosis this is the narrowing of the ventrical. Ventrical septal defect (VSD) hole in the heart. Over riding aorta and thick right ventrical which means the heart is working harder due to narrowing. A baby with TOF can have tet spells which is when a baby is blue. A TOF baby is Likely to have a BT shunt which improves the blood supply to the lungs and later has a major repair which the babies heart will be stopped and put on a heart and lung machine to keep blood flowing. The surgon will then stitch a patch of the hole and repair other abnormalities. After the repair it is important to know that the heart will never be normal it will simply be repaired. An adult TOF will continue to have cardiac appointments all there life's and this is very important. An adult TOF often develops a leaky valve which may require further surgery. They may also get pulmonary regurgitation which is when the ventrical has to work harder which causes the heart to enlarge over time which may lead to a valve replacement. I myself have this currently at a mild level. Risks to adults are heart failour and sudden cardiac death. Thank you for reading x