Update - Potential Cath

As you may recall, Chase's pediatric cardiologist (PC) saw a narrowing in his LPA during his echo in November '10 and again this month. He recommended a heart cath procedure at MUSC so they could get better pictures, measurements, and possibly do some kind of intervention, most likely ballooning the narrowing. He also scared the CRAP out of me by mentioning the possibility of Chase's Fontan taking place as early as THIS SUMMER.

Hubs and I, understandably, weren't overly happy with all of this. We spoke with a PC at MUSC and explained the situation. He seemed to think, based on what I was telling him, that the cath may not be necessary, and mentioned it's very common for these kids to have a narrowing of the LPA, but it typically isn't addressed until the Fontan procedure.

We felt it was best to send copies of Chase's records/echos to the MUSC PC so he'd have all of the same information our local PC, and see if he still felt the same way about the cath potentially not being necessary. I heard back from him today.

Esentially, he said Chase's LPA does look small. He agrees with our local PC's plan to proceed with a non urgent cath (in March or April). He confirmed that if the LPA is shown to be small during the cath (which for all intents and purposes, it will), it is likely they would be able to balloon it to help with future growth of the left pulmonary artery. He put (some of) my fears at ease by mentioning that just doing the cath does not mean Chase needs to have the Fontan done earlier than planned. ((collective sigh of relief))

So, for now, I'm waiting for the phone call from MUSC with the cath date they have scheduled for us. I have a whole gamut of emotions I'm feeling right now, and don't have time to get into all that, so I'll let you draw your conclusions about how excited I am with the idea of taking Chase down to MUSC for a heart catheterization.

At the end of the day, hubs and I are going to do WHATEVER is in Chase's best interest, but obviously we like to get lots of info and opinions to make sure something truly is best for him. So if a cath procedure is what is best, then a cath procedure we will do.

Please be praying for Chase and the rest of us as we prepare for this. It's always a big concern to put him under anesthesia, intubate him and put him through this kind of procedure.