When we arrived, she weighed 37 pounds!! WOW!! (She was fully clothed but I will still take it!) She has also sprouted up to 44 inches. Thank goodness it is summer! Shorts and skirts are so much easier to fit around that skinny waist. Her blood pressure looked good and her oxygen levels were 80.
Our echocardiogram went really well. Grace watched Frozen. She brought her doll, Lulu, to our appointment with us. Lulu also had a great ECHO.
Dr. Laird drew us a picture of how her heart is looking now. She still has the trivial leakage in the mitral valve but it is absolutely nothing to be concerned about. The heart muscle looks "good and strong." So, what do we do about that fenestration?? (This is a hole that was placed intentionally after her last surgery. In theory, it should have closed on it's own.) If we close it, her oxygen levels will go up, her endurance should increase, and she should be less tired overall. My worry has always been the damage that could be caused to other organs in her body from the lack of oxygenated blood. Craig and I had already discussed how we felt we should proceed. Ultimately, while we hate to put her through another procedure, we feel this is the best for Grace at this time. She is starting to become frustrated with Bennett when he is irritated that she needs to take a rest. She still sleeps to and from school almost every single day. It is our hope that this will help her feel better.
This can be done via a heart catheter...however, Dr. Laird doesn't perform these type of caths. So, now we wait to hear back from the doctor who does. We should have a plan by the end of the week.
So, what will they do? The doctor will go in through the groin and balloon the hole. They will wait 15-20 minutes and check her oxygen levels, veinous pressures, and something else that neither one of us can remember. :) If all is well, they will close it permanently and we will be good to go. If her heart doesn't handle it well, then they "bail out" and we wait for her to keep growing and then try again in 1-2 years.
Lulu's heart sounded "exactly like Grace's" so she received a good check up, too. Grace was thrilled that Dr. Laird agreed to listen to Lulu's heart.
Gracie is pretty anxious about this procedure. She cheered when we told her (before we talked to the doctor) that things might have changed and we might not do a cath. However, there has been talk of her BFF coming to visit her in the hospital and she is really looking forward to that happening.
If you are the praying type, we would certainly welcome prayers of peace for Grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment