Elisabeth's Heart Update

For those that may not remember, Elisabeth was born with a heart defect called Pulmonary Valve Stenosis, which means her valve was too thick. After a series of very stressful tests to determine the cause of her "non-functional heart murmur" when she was 2 wks old, we had follow-up visits at 2 mos, 6 mos, and 1 yr to make sure the stenosis wasn't getting worse, which could be very serious. It hadn't changed. So we came back at 2 yrs. And it hadn't changed. So they said we could come back at 4 yrs old.

And that brings us to today. And guess what?? It hasn't changed! Yay! At this point, they say that if it were going to get worse, it probably would have already in her first few years of life, so we probably have nothing to worry about, but they will keep checking it. This time in 4 more yrs, and then probably every 5 yrs after that.

So it appears that it isn't going away. But it isn't affecting her functioning at all and for that we are very grateful.

These appointments at the children's hospital are so stressful for me. Just pulling into the parking lot reminds of the very anxious visits we had when we knew she had a problem with her heart, but we weren't sure how serious it would be or what it would mean for her. And then Nathan had a bunch of testing done up there, too, when we were in the process of figuring things out with his ears and nose, so that always runs through my head. And we never know exactly what the appointment for Elisabeth will entail. They always do an EKG, but then if anything seems abnormal, then they could send you over for an echocardiogram or who knows what else. So it's always stressful. And then passing by all the other little kids and babies with problems so much more serious than ours always tugs at my heart. It's hard going up to the Children's Hospital for anything.

I just breathe a sigh of relief when I pull out of the parking lot and head home with no bad news and no unfortunate surprises. And I am so so grateful that we can drive away from the hospital knowing we won't have to worry about going back for a few more years!

And now I think I need a nap. These mornings with the pediatric cardiologist exhaust me. More later :)