Dr. visit update

On Monday, December 28, we took Elliott to his followup cardiology appt. with Dr. Day at Primary Childrens. Things started off really well by weighing him and getting an EKG done by 3:16 and our appt was for 3:15 but we were there a little early. Then things slowed down and took longer. Dr. Day came in and examined Elliott and asked lots of questions. By then Elliott had finished his bottle ans fallen asleep which was perfect to get another echocardiogram done. By now it was about 4:30. I had high hopes that Elliott would sleep through it all and he almost did--but almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenedes.

While Elliott was in the hospital, the nurses were always taking his temp and measuring him and running all sorts of tests so when he had one of his numerous echos done, he calmly laid there the whole 20-30 minutes. But now that we've had him home, we have ruined his tolerance for those tests. He slept through the first 25 minutes of the echo, then woke up flailing and screaming. I couldn't calm him, so we took a break and I held him trying to soothe him. We tried again but he just screamed. The doctors left to see if they had all they needed and I took the time to change his diaper and nurse him. (We had run out of the bottle since I didn't think it would take so long.) The doctors came back to get more measurments on the echo and Elliott did a little better, but we were holding him down and I was trying to keep him calm. They brought the syrupy stuff to dip his binky in and that helped. They left to check the results yet again and I picked up Elliott and managed to get him to fall asleep. When they came back I held him in my arms for part of the echo, then they needed him on the table for the last bit. Then they finished and it was now 6 pm.

After all that the results were still inconclusive. Elliott had never had an EKG so there was nothing to compare those results to. As far as the echo went, the valves weren't leaking enough blood to measure the pressure which is a good thing, but hard to tell if he is better or not. Also, the cardiac walls on the right side were thinner than last month, but still thicker than normal. So for now he is still on oxygen 24/7 and we have decreased his sildenafil just a little and will go back at the beginning of February for another followup visit.

Hopefully he is getting better and will be healthy and strong. He is growing and is still super smiley. As you can see below, he likes to kick and stretch and will be moving around pretty quickly.

We are a happy family and are so grateful for Elliott and the medical care he has gotten so close to home. Elliott was he best Christmas present ever! I am happy to have my little buddy with me all day.