Laughing Warrior: Cardiologist Visit

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Cardiologist Visit

Isaac had an Echocardiogram & a visit with Dr. Puchalski. Everything looks stable, he still has a leaky tricuspid valve, and the fenestration in his Fontan has not closed yet. Dr Puchalski says that closing the hole will only increase his oxygen intake by 5%. Therefore he says we can hold off doing a Cardiac Catherization for now and just keep an eye on him. Isaac's saturations were around 87% which is excellent for him. Isaac's sats are occasionally around the low 80's which has made the different pediatricians nervous at times. Currently Isaac is sick with a horrible cough which has came with occasional fevers and croup. Isaac is home today resting as much as possible. Isaac's oldest sister Lauren is sick with a bad head cold today and is staying home also. I hope we can all be strong enough to fight the bugs that come our way this season. It is scary what I hear in the news.

Isaac's Heart Diagnosis and More

Isaac was born with Hypoplastic Right Ventricle with Dextrocardia, Pulmonary Stenosis, and VSD. He also has a leaky Tricuspid valve with moderate leakage. He had a BT shunt 1-17-03, Bi-Directional Glenn removing BT shunt 7-7-03, and the Fontan 6-22-06.
He was also born with Hydrocephalus (no shunt or brain damage), and Unilateral hearing loss (which he outgrew and only has minor hearing loss now). He also was born missing the top portion of his left ear (the pinea) which he will have plastic surgery for in a couple of years. He also has a condition with his left eye called Exotropia which may require surgery. He only has 70% of an airway which causes frequent croup, due to drainage from post nasal drip. We still find new problems occasionally, however his Heart is the most serious of all of his issues.