Cardiology Update

Yesterday, we took my son for his follow up visit with the cardiologist.  First, we met with the nurse to do all his check-up work and tests.  She checked his weight, length, and head, attempted to get a blood pressure.  All the normal stuff.  Then she did an EKG (something we never did in the hospital), which, honestly, was surprisingly simpler than it sounds. 

Anyway, after lots of waiting and paperwork and tests, we finally sat down with the doctor.  His first words to me? "So, why do you think you are following up with me?"  What?  What kind of question is that?  Doesn't my son have heart defects that need to be monitored?  So I replied, "Well, I was told he had a couple different heart defects, but that we would need to follow up on and monitor his VSD."

The doctor went on to explain that all his echocardiograms done in the hospital (I'm not even sure how many he had all together.  Maybe four or five) showed conflicting reports.  They did not all show a VSD, and when it did, it was small and muscular (a good VSD to have, as they are very likely to close on their own).  Only one echo showed an ASD (another hole), but no one was concerned about that, as it is something that is very common and wouldn't cause any problems anyway.  And apparently, an early echo showed coarctation of the aorta, which is a pinching or narrowing of the aorta that obstructs blood flow to the lower body.  Subsequent echos, however, showed no signs of this.  This heart defect was something we had never even heard anything about!

Anyway, after looking at all of his echos from the hospital, his doctor looked at his EKG and saw no problems.  He then felt his pulse in his arm and leg, and they were both great and very strong.  He then listened to his heart and heard absolutely no murmur at all.  His conclusion?  He does not have any heart problems to be concerned about and would not require anymore follow-up!  Can he guarantee that he does not have a small VSD? No.  If he looked today and saw that he did, would he do anything about it? No!  This was great news, but I still had questions about his blood pressure, and although we are closely monitoring it and his nephrologist is following it, I will feel better to know for a fact that it is nothing to do with his heart.  So we are going to go back in three months and do another echo when he's a little bigger, and specifically look for a VSD and/or any coarctation of his aorta.

I am praying that he is right and by the time we go back his blood pressure will already be getting better, and the echo will show no problems at all and we can officially say he is no longer a cardiology patient! 

Thank you for your prayers as well!