We Survived!

Whew. I am so glad this whirlwind day is behind us! It definitely went better than expected, though. Ethan managed to squeeze in an hour long nap between appointments, and Jeramie and I were still cordial with each other by the time the witching hour came around. I'll count those as definite successes!

The pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to stop the prednisone. Glory, hallelujah! She said that she didn't hear any more wheezing in Ethan's lungs, but they still sounded pretty junky. We'll give him breathing treatments twice a day for the next couple of days, then move to using the nebulizer on an "as needed" basis. Hopefully we'll be able to wean him off of that soon, too!

Other than sounding so congested, Ethan's cardiologist was very happy with how he's doing. He walked into the exam room for the first time to find an extremely hyper little boy, and two sweaty parents who were literally chasing him around the room. It only took one look for him to decide that an echo would not be happening! Without sedating him, it would have been near impossible to get decent pictures of his heart. So, Ethan didn't end up getting the holy trinity of cardiology tests after all; Dr. I was happy with just an EKG and chest x-ray. It took a minute for me to be OK with not getting the echo, but Ethan's cardiologist is absolutely fantastic with explaining his decisions and reassuring me that is truly is A-OK. I know so many of you heart moms can relate, but I find myself just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I told a friend tonight that Ethan's heart has been so well-behaved during our most recent medical dramas, so I just kind of expected that it would be it's turn to act out.

Yeah, not so much.

Dr. I said that the murmur is definitely still there (and always will be), but it doesn't pose any reason for concern. Given that Ethan is full of energy, growing so well, and acting just fine, Dr. I doesn't feel that there is any reason to think that anything (even more) funky is going on inside his chest. And I am totally OK with hearing that!

I asked tons of questions during this visit, most of them related to our week-long planned vacation to the lake. I was really concerned that we would have to place lots of restrictions on Ethan for summer-time activities, but Dr. I's only words of advice were "keep him hydrated, and have fun!"

Yes, sir. We can most definitely do that.

We'll head back in three more months for another check-up. At this rate, we'll see Dr. I at the start of each season, and wish him a "happy-whatever" until we see him again!

Our last appointment with the orthopedic surgeon was the most difficult of the three. We waited a super long time, and Ethan was beginning his transformation into the Incredible Hulk. Once the surgeon arrived, things moved pretty quickly from there. He was very pleased with the way Ethan's finger has healed, although he wouldn't pinch him! We'll leave that to the nerve guys when we go see them in a few weeks. Ethan went back for an x-ray to check the original correction, and all of that looks wonderful as well. Dr. F doesn't think that we've lost any of the correction, which is HUGE considering what that arm has been through in the past few months. He gave us a friendly "see you in 2 months" and out the door we went!

The drive home was excruciating. A 35-minute drive turned into an hour and 19 minutes, thank-you-traffic-and-crazy-drivers on I-40, and we were all getting a little delirious about the time we reached the hour mark. I think Ethan could sense that things just weren't right, and decided to give us a little bit of his wild man entertainment.



Is that kid crazy, or what?!

So, there you have it. Overall, a good day with lots of good news. It wasn't nearly as interesting as these types of days have been in the past, and I am so very thankful for that!

Thanks for all of the prayers; our God surely is mighty to save!