Heart update

Back in August we had her annual echo. I think I blogged that. I never called for the results bc I figured if it was bad they'd call me. Well.... Dr King himself called me Saturday at 2:30. Talk about a shock. The echo revealed her right heart pressure was 66 and normal is 30-35. He also said something abt the right side arteries. And he mentioned a heart cath. Then he told me to be there Monday at 1. And that's seriously just about all I remember about the conversation. So we do as we're told and showed up at 12:45 today. He all but met us in the lobby and ushered us on back. They have a new echo machine (o was the first patient that it was used on back in August) that is top of the line. He informs us that we'll need an updated chest X-ray after this visit and we start right away. O was out like a light (snoring) within a few minutes of turning the lights out. Long story short it was discovered that her aortic and pulmonary arteries are switched. One usually comes from the right side and the other the left. Hers are backwards. And that's why her pressure levels were picking up as high. Bc they were being measured wrong. Bc the technician didn't know. Not her fault! This condition is called congenital (meaning at birth) corrected (meaning God fixed it) transposition. Or something really similar to that. There is some question (if I understood correctly) if she has all four vessels that carry oxygen? She may have 3??? He is consulting with his team in New Orleans for final diagnosis. We'll go back in about 2 weeks for confirmation. If all the doctors agree with him then we probably won't do anything else except possibly see the pulmonologist again and continue with 6 month - annual appts. If they don't all agree we'll head to new orleans for a heart cath and/or a MRI/MRA. Now the reason for the chest X-ray today.... She may have some bronchial cysts. Not sure yet. After re-studying her old X-rays he picked up on them. What that means or how it's treated.... I have no idea. Back to the heart.... This condition can (doesn't always) have complications. The most notable is heart block which would require a pacemaker.

O was over the wait at st Francis!


Showing off her bracelet.





But she hammed it up for the cute, young X-ray guy. :)





What I took from the appt: all of this is good news. Her pressure is normal considering her condition. Her heart is pumping great for the time being. There is no blockage. No holes (that they can see; holes are typical with this). If the heart cath is necessary its just to confirm correct diagnosis. No stints or anything crazy like that.

I thank God that this is serious but not life threatening. And it's treatable. Not all families are as lucky as we've been. I took o to dance this evening and on the way it dawned on me.... Lots of kids are too sick to dance. We are most definitely counting our blessings. Thank you all for the prayers.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad