Cardiology Check-Up

Wow.

When I think about the past 4 hours, all I can say is "wow". We spent most of the morning and early afternoon with our beloved cardiologist, and we really couldn't have gotten better news than we did.

(Well, I guess he could have told us that Ethan's heart had miraculously healed itself... but we'll leave that one up to God.)

Anyway... today was a big day. Ethan had a chest x-ray, an EKG, a "naturally sedated" echo (he fell asleep right before it!), and a crazy long pacemaker interrogation session. He slept for about 45 minutes while everyone worked on him, and was in great spirits during the time he was awake. Dr. I was thrilled with how he looked (big, pink, and full of energy) and said his heart sounded "fantastic".

That never gets old.

The best news came during Ethan's echo when we were told that the right ventricle is functioning "very well". If you remember, this is the part of his heart that has had a really hard time rebounding from surgery #1, cardiac arrest, then surgery #2. In the past, it hadn't been squeezing as well as it should be, but that was NOT the case today!! In relative terms, the difference is night and day.

It was so much better, in fact, that Dr. I stopped one of Ethan's heart medications! Stopped it. He also decreased the frequency of another medication, with the intention of stopping it soon, too.

Wow.

He will be keeping an eye on Ethan's conduit to make sure that the pressures don't start creeping up again. There is a slight narrowing, but nothing to suggest a problem at this point. Pray that this past surgery will last well into Ethan's early childhood years, meaning that the conduit will stay opened-wide, allowing for the most optimal blood flow from his heart to his lungs.

As if we didn't get enough good news, our visit ended with a very loving "see you in two months". Two months?! We've not gone longer than four weeks since leaving Duke in May, but I'll take it! Lord willing, we won't see Dr. I (or any of his colleagues) for the rest of 2009.

Happy new year, our cardiology friends. We'll see you in 2010.