Caleb is 18 months and seems to be doing well. He's on a regular diet now, eating solid foods and drinking regular milk. He was weaned off one of his reflux medicines; he's getting 7 therapy sessions a week instead of 9; he walks all over the place with his push toy and is starting to stand and take a few steps on his own. He's communicating a bit better and he loves to play, climb and explore everything. All these signs show that his heart must be working well, right? We expected good reports from his cardiology check-up and a "see you in 4 months." But the echo (an ultrasoud of the heart) showed that Caleb has another heart defect called a supra valvar membrane.
My heart sunk.
"...but this one is fixable." My heart sunk deeper.
I know what "fixable" means. It means opening the heart...again.
Basically he has a tissue growing on top of his mitral valve preventing smooth flow of blood out of the left atrium and into the left ventricle. This can cause a back-up and pressure to build up in the lungs and other complications especially since that is the only part of his heart that works.
The doctors were aware of this defect since birth. We never found out about it because it was not "significant", but now it seems to be growing as he grows. The only way to get rid of it is via open heart surgery which means that Caleb may have to have two more heart surgeries instead on one. Dr. Mas also noticed that the part of his pulmonary artery that was balloned during his last cath may have collapsed again. He also has a significant amount of collateral veins that his body has produced to compensate for his low blood oxygen levels but they are competing with the blood flow from his last bypass surgery. One of these or all of them may be the reason why he wakes up with swelling in his face and his arms appear to be puffy.
Caleb will be having a cardiac catherization this Thursday Feb. 5th where they'll do some more investigation and some intervention if necessary and possible. Please pray for Caleb and for Dr. Zahn who will be doing the cath. We are asking God that they can fix any problems via cath so Caleb won't need any extra surgeries. Thanks for helping us bear our burdens =)
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And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
Confident that the Lord is using all circumstances for His glory as we are His glorious worksmanship!
Praying and praising God for you and your family!
You guys are in our prayers. Let us know if you need anything.
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