Cardio Update - July 2012

Well, friends, today can be summed up in two statements:

1.  It has been a good, good day, and
2.  We serve a good, good God.

On the way to the office this morning, I prayed that I would rest in God's goodness regardless of what we heard.  While the majority of the news is great, we do have some work to do - and the fact that I'm not freaking out right now is evidence of God pulling me near and holding me close.

So, here's what we know.

As far as vitals go, Ethan is doing really well:
-Blood Pressure: 92/54
-PulseOx: 99%
-Heart Rate: 119 beats per minute
-Weight: 33.1 pounds (50th percentile)
-Height: 39 inches (60th percentile)

Those numbers reiterate exactly what I've been saying in the past few days leading up to this appointment - on the outside, my boy is just fine.  Of course, I knew Dr. I wouldn't send us home based on those numbers alone, so off to the echo room we went.

Now that we've reached echo number 30-something, I can finally watch for that pressure gradient measurement myself.  Based on what I saw, I knew Dr. I would have good news for us, and it was confirmed by the echo tech saying "see you in six months!" when she walked us back to our room.

As it turns out, the pressure across Ethan's conduit has.not.changed since January; it is remaining stable in the 60-70 mmHG range! Now, that number is still high (considering normal is below 20), but stable is good and stable it is.

What Dr. I can't get an accurate picture of (due to echo limitations) is the exact pressure of Ethan's right ventricle and the exact sizes of his left and right branch pulmonary arteries.  Due to this, Ethan will be put on the cath schedule as soon as possible and we should have some more definitive answers in the next few weeks.  None of this is on an emergency-basis by any means, but we're taking a very special trip with some very special friends in October and Dr. I wants to have Ethan raring to go by that point.  IF intervention is needed (cath or otherwise) we want to get it taken care of now.

From a pacemaker standpoint, all is well.  The battery still has two years of life left and all the leads are functioning as they should be.  Also, the pacemaker only recorded a few high-rate episodes over the past six months, which is awesome news!

Because our current call-in system for Ethan's pacemaker is no longer an option, we'll go back to the office at the end of September to have it checked before we leave for our trip.  Other than that, and the upcoming cath, Ethan got another 6-month pass!

Needless to say, we're pretty thankful.  Thankful for a God who is ever-faithful, for friends like you who lift us up in prayer and encourage us along the way, for caring doctors, and for resilient three year old boys.

Stay tuned for the cath date...

Oh, my God, He will not delay

My refuge and strength always

I will not fear, His promise is true

My God will come through always, always