“Go be a normal kid. ”
After the crazy summer that we had. . . Open heart surgery, hospital stay, weird fever, hospital stay, weird fever that wouldn’t go away, hospital stay, bizarre rash, no hospital stay, ambulance ride for mom, broken elbow, surgery for a new bionic elbow, long summer of convalescence. . . We don’t expect good news. We hope for good news, but we don’t expect it. Then no one is disappointed.
Today was a day of awesome news. The echo of his heart showed trivial and minor leaking in his aorta, mitral, and pulmonary valves. His blood pressure is good. His inflammatory markers are now within normal range. His kidney function is good. He still has a fistula but it hasn’t changed and is not currently causing problems.
So Dr. Altman said . . .
- No more heat restrictions.
- As soon as your 12 weeks post surgery is up, go to PE. When you’re not in PE go exercise.
- Be active.
- Go play.
- Have fun.
- And most importantly. . . Go and live a normal life.
He still has to be careful. He can’t lift weights, or play contact sports. He still has to drink plenty of water. He still has to take 20+ pills a day. He still has lots of doctor visits to go to. He is still under the careful watch of cardiology, renal, and GI departments. He just went to school yesterday wearing a 24 hour blood pressure monitor, and it’s hard to be normal walking around sixth grade wearing medical equipment. But the reality is he is as close to normal then he ever has been.
As long as the results of the 24 hour blood pressure monitor are also good, then we are steady as she goes in regards to medication. No changes for a while. She feels our family has had enough medical intervention in the last three months that we need to take a break. So we don’t have to see her until December!
So the day was good. Papa Lake drove us to the medical center that day. So Papa Lake, Ben and I joined aunt Sarah, uncle Dave and Megan at IHOP for a celebratory pancake dinner. We are so thrilled with the good news.
Our next medical appointment is for my arm. So we hope the good news continues and I will be able to drive again!
The Puddles 
Yea and yea!!!