At his last appointment, his LPA (left pulmonary artery) showed signs of narrowing. It was a concern but not enough so to act on it. We figured we'd check it out again at our next appointment and see how it looks. If it continued to narrow, it would force our hand to do his third scheduled surgery, the Fontan, sooner than later. As in early Spring, potentially. If it didn't look too bad, we'd hold off until Fall.
Let me just say this appointment was without a doubt the BEST appointment Chase has ever had from a cooperation standpoint. He stood on the scale without crying and also let us capture his height. Then he rocked out all FOUR blood pressures (one on each extremity) without a tear and was actually HELPING the nurse. Amazing. They even did the pulse oximeter simultaneously with the BP cuff and he didn't mind a bit! See??!
We had a few minutes in the exam room to answer the nurse's questions then it was off to echo! He again did his typical amazing job during the lengthy echo. The tech wasn't able to get good pictures of his LPA so we rearranged him a few times on the table to help. I asked if she was able to get the pics we needed and she said yes. Thank you to Madagascar for entertaining Chase throughout the echo.
So proud of this big boy of mine!!!
After the echo it was back to the exam room to wait on Dr. H. After a good 45 minutes (sigh), he came in and we chatted a bit. Then he informed us that we DIDN'T get good pictures of his LPA and he wanted to take us back to echo. Grrrrr! I didn't mind it and definitely wanted to be sure we got what we needed, but it irritated me that the tech specifically said she DID get the pics. Oh well. Chase cooperated perfectly and we were able to see exactly what we needed.
Back in the exam room, Dr. H told us that based on the measurements he took, it looked like his LPA had grown and/or we got better more accurate pics of it on the echo this time. GREAT NEWS!!! He then proceeded to say that everything looked wonderful and that he'd leave it up to US if we wanted to schedule his Fontan this Fall or NEXT SPRING!!!
Whaaaaa?!!
NOT doing his Fontan before the end of 2013 had NEVER crossed my mind as an option!! Wow. I am still in shock & awe! He said he didn't need to see us again for another 6 months. Wow. We opted to see him again in August instead (5 months) just in case anything changes so that if we need to move forward with his surgery, we could try to get him in before the cold/flu season starts.
Options. Choices. What a concept! I cannot for a second be anything but BLESSED that our son is doing so well that his little body isn't forcing our hand at scheduling his last planned heart surgery. There are so many other heart families out there who don't get a choice and whose little ones require urgent heart surgeries to sustain their child's lives. We are so blessed and grateful!!!
After we scheduled our return appointment for August, hubs and I took Chase out for lunch at one of his (and my!) favorite joints: Culver's. It was a big hit!! Can't you tell?? ;)
So what a wonderful day it's been for our little family and our sweet boy. Now mama's heading off to my weekly ultrasound appointment for the baby, followed by a non stress test on Friday. Yes -- two appointments each week from here on out. Not loving it but so excited to get to see my baby boy every week until his arrival! Woot!
Thanks to all for your prayers for Chase's appointment today! Love to all!!!
Posted using my beloved iPhone 5
AMAZING NEWS!
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing! What great news! :) :) So glad everything went so well! :)
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