Christmas is coming :) We're doing very well here. C's been sick for almost 6 weeks, but even with that, his lungs have stayed clear, which is a huge improvement over how illness went before surgery.
We're adding an ENT into our list of specialists. C has had too many ear infections at this point, so we're checking in to see if we need to do anything.
Things are going pretty well overall. It is hard to remember to blog when we don't have a lot of drama going on.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Holter Monitor Results :)
We did our holter monitor study last Friday. Unfortunately, C had the stomach flu and a fever during that time, which means we didn't get a good baseline. It also meant he puked on the monitor, his car seat, our bed, our chair and several other times on the floor. Poor kid. The flu lasted 72 hours where he didn't eat and was pretty subdued. Since then he's been eating like crazy to make up for it, which is all good.
Yesterday afternoon, we received a fabulous Thanksgiving gift from our cardiologist. He called with the results from C's holter monitor. Despite it not being the baseline we were hoping to establish, We did find that C's heart can and will respond as needed when his body puts on a greater demand. Additionally, when his heart rate is higher, he tends not to go junctional in his rhythm. All very good things that mean we may not end up with a pacemaker. I'm feeling very hopeful and thankful today.
His average hourly heart rate stayed in the 70's. Overnight he had some dips into the 40's but overall, his heart is meeting his body's demands. At one point (probably when TheMan was chasing him around the house) his heart rate was as high as 140.
Our cardiologist seems much relieved and somewhat surprised by the results. Overall, he seems less worried than he did before we used the holter. We'll be doing this again after the first of the year. Our next cardiology follow up will be January 3rd.
Yesterday afternoon, we received a fabulous Thanksgiving gift from our cardiologist. He called with the results from C's holter monitor. Despite it not being the baseline we were hoping to establish, We did find that C's heart can and will respond as needed when his body puts on a greater demand. Additionally, when his heart rate is higher, he tends not to go junctional in his rhythm. All very good things that mean we may not end up with a pacemaker. I'm feeling very hopeful and thankful today.
His average hourly heart rate stayed in the 70's. Overnight he had some dips into the 40's but overall, his heart is meeting his body's demands. At one point (probably when TheMan was chasing him around the house) his heart rate was as high as 140.
Our cardiologist seems much relieved and somewhat surprised by the results. Overall, he seems less worried than he did before we used the holter. We'll be doing this again after the first of the year. Our next cardiology follow up will be January 3rd.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Cardiac Follow Up - 3 Weeks Post Op
We had C's local cardiac follow up today. I was happy to hear our cardiologist say "I've always advised families to wait, but if this valve continues to work like it is, I may have to change my thinking on that". I was less happy to find that C's heart rate continues to be low (resting 57ish) and beating in a junctional rhythm.
We're on a waiting list for a holter monitor. At this point we are looking to get some baseline numbers so that we can see if he improves over the next few months. If we don't see an improvement in the next 4 months, we may be getting a pacemaker. If the holter monitor shows any concerning drops or pauses, we may be getting a pacemaker sooner rather than later.
I asked Dr. Gellat if he thought it could simply be the size of C's heart causing the issue. While it may be the reason for the slower beat, the fact that it is beating from the junction instead of from the sinus node indicates there is an issue. The good news is that the EKG does not indicate heart block. When the junction node fires, it does trigger the sinus node and both the atrium and ventricle are beating.
It will be interesting to see if C's increased heart rate will lead to sinus node taking over firing. We were seeing normal sinus rhythms in the hospital when C was up and about. Even when C's heart rates are in the mid to lower 40's he still profuses well.
We're on a waiting list for a holter monitor. At this point we are looking to get some baseline numbers so that we can see if he improves over the next few months. If we don't see an improvement in the next 4 months, we may be getting a pacemaker. If the holter monitor shows any concerning drops or pauses, we may be getting a pacemaker sooner rather than later.I asked Dr. Gellat if he thought it could simply be the size of C's heart causing the issue. While it may be the reason for the slower beat, the fact that it is beating from the junction instead of from the sinus node indicates there is an issue. The good news is that the EKG does not indicate heart block. When the junction node fires, it does trigger the sinus node and both the atrium and ventricle are beating.
It will be interesting to see if C's increased heart rate will lead to sinus node taking over firing. We were seeing normal sinus rhythms in the hospital when C was up and about. Even when C's heart rates are in the mid to lower 40's he still profuses well.
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