No More Fluid!

We went for yet another cardiology appointment today and although we thought this was supposed to be a "quick" appointment to look at the fluid situation around Max's heart, we have learned to treat all appointments the same... long, tiresome and requiring a plethora of toys, snacks and electronic distractions.

So that is what we planned for today and it paid off because they did a full checkup complete with height, weight, echocardiogram, ECG, and a visit with the cardiologist (Dr. Myers).

Did I mention that the appointment was scheduled for 1:00pm which is Max's exact nap time!!!

We skipped the nap entirely and Max was a bit more irritable than usual, however he did pretty well when we consider all that he has been through. The news was worth waiting for:

• The cardiologist has taken Max off of the iron supplement which is great because it tastes horrible and was the last "medication" that he was on. His hemoglobin levels will continue to replenish on their own without his heart having to work too hard to compensate. 
• The fluid around his heart is completely gone!
• The aortic arch and surgery site look wonderful.
• The aortic valve and mitral valve will be what we continue to monitor going forward but as of now they are functioning great, especially the aortic valve. If you remember, this is the one that the surgeon (Dr. Ross) was able to get working better than it was before by removing some of the membrane that had actually adhered to the valve's leaflets. 

Max was essentially given a clean bill of health! Besides 1 remaining week of sternal precautions (no lifting under the arms, no rough play, no sledding, no skating, no backpacks, etc) we were told that he is not to be held back at all. In other words there are no activities that he can't do. We have heard and read about concerns regarding heart conditions and contact sports but according to our cardiologist Max is free to do anything that his little heart desires (pun fully intended)! Football? Hockey? Taekwon-Do? All of the Above?

We were expecting another appointment within 3 months but she recommended 6 months. So the next official update won't be for a while although I am sure that we will blog between now and then. 

Lastly, because Max's heart condition is genetic, we have been taking all the extra precautions with the "new baby." The new baby has had a fetal echocardiogram which didn't show anything of significant concern however there are things that can't be seen on a fetal echo because the baby's heart is so small, such as a potential bicuspid valve. As a result, Dr. Myers (Max's cardiologist in Calgary) will be doing an echocardiogram on the new baby sometime in the 1st week of it's life...

There are still things to pray about but we are so very grateful for the news that we received today. Praise God. 

Cam