Cardiology Update 09.24.12

My sweet boy went to the cardiologist today.  Robert had his normal monthly check-up with an Echo.  Here is a picture of Robert relaxing during the Echo.

[pics coming soon...]

Nothing really new it seems.  They measured the velocity of his blood flow and a few other things.  They all seem okay.  Or as okay as a child with a congenital heart defect can be I guess.

In May, we went to UAB for OHS #2.  They were going to attempt the full repair.  But in pre-op, the doctors were in disagreement if he was "ready", meaning if he was big enough.  They had originally said that he should be 9 kg (or approximately 20 pounds) before they attempted the repair.  Due to his coronary anomaly (where his coronary lies over his pulmonary valve), they wanted his heart to be the size of a large walnut - not a "small" walnut (???) - so they could make a more precise incision to increase the size of the pulmonary valve.  But the final decision at pre-op was to go to the heart cath lab and see what they could do there and also map out how his pulmonary arteries branch in his chest.  During the heart cath, they were able to balloon an area of the pulmonary valve to buy him some more time so he could get that heart large walnut sized.  They also found that his coronary artery doesn't branch like they originally thought and cutting through it would be a mistake. So afterwards, the doctor sent us home with the plan that OHS #2 would most likely occur in August as they predicted his weight would be close to 9 kg.

Fast forward to June, July, then August with no mention of surgery plans.  Robert was not reaching 9 kg (and even lost weight in June/July due to illness).  And at this week's cardiology appointment, Dr. B said she would be contacting UAB to let them know he was now 9.0 kg (exactly!).  Robert went to get his Echo and the Echo was emailed off to Dr. L in Birmingham.  Now it is just waiting to see what they say!

And life goes on...

And life goes on...

Today was a B-I-G day.  We were briefly a family of four after Robert was born.  And now we are officially a family of three once more.  

I can once again blog without someone picking apart each and every word I write.  So happy reading!  There is much more to come!