Annie meets the Pediatric Cardiologist

Annie finally had her appointment with the cardiologist on Tuesday, August 7th. We got good news, Praise the Lord! Our main prayer as we waited to travel for Annie was that IF she needed surgery, we could bring her home before any permanent damage occurred. He most certainly answered our prayers!

She was a brave baby girl and held still for all the procedures, which included her EKG, her echocardiogram, and a chest xray. She wimpered and whined during them all, but she held still! (I was very concerned about that - she screams and cries the moment we walk back to the exam rooms at the doctor or dentist; I have read about some children requiring sedation for their heart exams.) We prayed that wouldn't be necessary, and that prayer was answered as well!

The results of her exams showed an "abnormal" EKG, but the echo really didn't suport what the EKG showed. The xray showed no enlargement of the heart, and her pulmonary arteries looked normal. The echo did show her VSD, which measured at 3mm (exactly what the referral documents stated ~ that exam was from when she was 11 months old) We saw that the VSD was high, and that the blood was moving through that hole with a high velocity. The doctor said that it showed some possible pulmonary stenosis, but he didn't appear concerned about that. He saw no signs of new tissue growth (no signs that the hole would close on its own), and gave that a 10% chance. Due to the location of the VSD, and the force with which the blood is moving through it, there is a chance that she could later develop a problem that would require them to close the hole. She's going back in February for another EKG and echo, and eventually she should only need to go back once a year. Other than that, she just needs to take preventive antibiotics before dental cleanings and other specific surgeries/procedures! Oh, and the doc forbids her from getting tattoos or body piercings - risk of infection is too high. No problem there, Dr Wagman!!

We were so exhausted after our appointment that day, it actually took a while for it to hit that we got really great news!! Now we are celebrating and thanking the Lord that our girl is as healthy as we've suspected since we first started chasing her around the hotel room!