The Puddles

We started the morning at 2:00, then 3:00, then again at 4:00, and finally at 5:00 we let ourselves get up and going in order to leave by 6:00am.  Our first appointment was with the echo lab.  The ultrasound tech took over an hour to get pictures of Ben’s heart.  Of course that makes Chris and I nervous.  I mean really nervous.  This special attention to details made us late for our cardiology appointment, which made us late for  hypertension, which finally made us late for labs.  Ugh!

We finally made it to see Dr. Altman and she starts like this . . . “Here is the good news.”  Which implied to Chris and I that this would be followed up with some bad news.  She gets to the end of the good news and says, “So it’s a good day!!!”  Chris and I look at each other with shock/surprise and Chris says, “Why didn’t you tell us that to begin with?”  The doctor apologized and said that next time she will start out that way!!  We were so thrilled to hear all of it!!

The Good News

There are no significant changes to the leak in the aortic valve.  He still has a moderate leak, but he can live this way for a while before intervention is needed.  There is a slight bump where the subaortic membrane was, but she believes this is a residual bump.  Her only area of concern is that there is some slight narrowing of the sinotubular junction (which is where the surgeon places a Dacron patch at the last surgery). The area is not large enough to support Ben’s mass (body weight), but at this moment there does not seem to be any back pressure in the heart from this narrowing of the aorta (which is good). There is still some leaking in the mitral valve, but again it is still not getting worse.

Ben can still be in gymnastics (but she would rather see him on the swim team), but if he started doing competition level gymnastics, she would have concerns!  Ben can go to camp with strict supervision.  And most importantly, Ben gets to have a treadmill test at his next visit.

She is not ready to release Ben from seeing him every six months.  Ben has a bad history of his health taking a dramatic turn in a six month period of time.  So she is too nervous about letting him go yet!  But she is letting him change his ace inhibitor from a twice a day to a once a day (same dose different delivery method).

The hypertension clinic saw Ben and agreed that Ben can change his meds to a once a day.  We will have to watch him closely while the transition takes place, but this will help Mommy with delivery (if Ben falls asleep early, I have to wake him up for his meds.  I will not wake him up for fish pills and melatonin!) She thought his vitals were slightly elevated, but it could be because he has been on the same dose for two years and he might be starting to outgrow his current dose.

So all in all.  A very awesome day.  A great relief.  We celebrated by starting our lunch with dessert first.  It was a great way to start the meal.  We finally managed to get home before 4pm.  Papa and Grandma Lake held down the fort while we were in Houston.  They set the bar pretty high for us.  The kids got to school on time, well dressed, and with a good breakfast.  Madie informed me of my shortcomings!!  The girls enjoyed their special time with the grandparents.  We were thankful that we didn’t have to worry about them on a day like today.

We are grateful to God for our day today.  He blessed us with good news.  He blessed us with many friends and family members who kept Ben and the family in their prayers today.  It is certainly time to celebrate.  We can party for six more months until we see Dr. Altman again.  I’ll take today and pray that it is repeated many  times over!!