3 Month B-day and Cardio Visit

Sam turned three months old today! Seems like it was only yesterday he was born, and at the same time it seems like forever ago.

We had our cardiologist appointment today to start the process of preparing for Sam's first open heart surgery. Sam weighed in at 12lbs 13oz and was 25 inches long. They did an EKG and an echocardiogram. Sam was almost perfect for the whole thing; he only really got fussy once but he took a pacifier (which is a rare event) and fell asleep for the rest of the visit. And yet again, the pulse-ox meter read fairly low...the highest was 79 but the lowest was in the 50s. I think the doctor is still secretly worried about these weird low numbers, but since Sam looks fairly pink with only slightly blue/purple lips at worst the doctor doesn't make too big of a deal over the numbers.

Dr. Cardis said our EKG and echo looked just about the same as our results in January, which is good news. He was concerned that the hole between the ventricles may be closing but after a second look on a second echo he decided it looked fine. (Remember, we NEED the hole in the heart where as most people don't.) He is going to send the results up to Atlanta tomorrow, and then they will call us by the end of next week to set up a heart cath.

He explained that the heart cath is to be sure that the pressures in the pulmonary arteries are at the right level for surgery. If they aren't then we will have to put Sam on some meds and repeat the cath. Dr. Cardis doesn't think this will be a problem for us though. He said once the cath results are in, all of the surgeons and all of the cardiologist in Atlanta sit down in a conference and review them on a big screen. They decide as a group what to do. Then they let us know. Dr. Cardis said Sam seems like a good candidate for surgery in his opinion....I told him that was a dang good thing, considering there are NO other options.

In review, Sam's EKG and echo went well and looked fine. We will schedule the cath in a few weeks, and wait for the results and the doctors decisions. Wait, wait, wait....we're used to that now. But we will enjoy everyday with our little man!

~Kathy