We had another appointment with our pediatric cardiologist today. It was a much less emotional visit than we had last time, mostly because he didn't use words like: surgery, cut her open, crack open her ribcage, scar, or complications. Instead, this time there was a lot more optimism. We are still by no means out of the woods yet, but at least we have something to hope for. Since she has been on the diuretic to relieve her pulmonary edema, we haven't had to deal with the constant reminder of her coughing and difficulty breathing. Nevertheless, it's always something as her parents that we have had in the back of our minds. She had gained weight, and although she is still hugging the lower end of the growth curves, at least she is making gains.
The doctor examined her and listened to her heart for several minutes. Then the doctor said, "Okay, well please make an appointment to come back and see us in two months". We kind of just looked at him confused, after all we were bracing for him saying that we needed to make surgery plans. We asked if she was doing better. He said that she seems to be doing well, gaining weight, and it would be something we would continue to monitor. We asked him what the chances are of this thing resolving itself without surgery. He said that according to the literature, and with her progress, there was about a 40% chance that it would resolve, or at least resolve to the point of not needing to do surgery.
We just wanted to thank everyone for your concern and prayers. Although we know that this chapter is far from over, we have felt the influence of loving friends, family, and the Spirit of Our Father in Heaven.
Just because I feel like I have been repeating myself a lot lately here is the deal with her heart (up to this point we go to the cardiologist again on Friday). She has a moderate to large hole in her heart between her two ventricles. This condition is called a VSD (ventricular septal defect). This following link explains it quite well and has a nice little illustration. Hers being moderate to large, it may not close on its own, but that is what we are going to find out more about on Friday. She has been on a diuretic for the past 2 1/2 weeks because she was in heart failure (just meaning that her heart wasnt doing what it was supposed to) and had some pulmonary edema (water around the lungs). I anticipate that they will start her on some digoxin (a heart medicine) this Friday. Due to the diuretics, she has had a slow weight gain. This is normal with the medicine, as well as the condition. She was 6 lbs 5.5 oz at birth at her 4 week check up she was only 6lbs 8 oz, she is now finally 6lbs 13oz so we are slowly making progress. https://www.google.com/health/ref/Ventricular+septal+defect
Other than this, she is a normal happy 5-week old. She is starting to smile a little and is trying to hold her head up. She loves to snuggle. This works out great as we love to snuggle her. My mom went home today and so far, so good. Nothing horrible has happened, other than my house looks like a war zone as I have been to busy with McKenna's school, Bryn, and a new baby to do much cleaning.
