Elizabeth had another echocardiogram today. She made them earn their money. Even with a little sedative in her, she still squirmed just about the whole time. That's an hour and a half ladies and gents. We have one strong girl.
As for the results of the echocardiogram, things have leveled off since last time. If anything, her velocity levels in her arteries have lessened a bit, but that is probably because they were able to get more accurate readings since she was a little calmer today than last time (what's that tell you about last time?).
(Sidebar: her blood velocity in meters per second measures the amount of blockage, higher the velocity, the more blockage. Imagine your arteries are like PVC pipe. If you put putty around the inside of the tube, there is less space in the pipe itself, so liquid goes thru it faster.)
So, the implications of the results: we wait.
Seriously, that's it. Last time the cardiologist said that if the blockage continued increasing like it was, then Elizabeth would need to have another catheter procedure done before the end of the year.
Since our next echocardiogram appointment isn't until early January, me thinks a before-the-end-of-the-year procedure isn't going to happen. :-). Doc still thinks that a catheter procedure will need to be done (no time frame given). With another catheter procedure comes the chance that a small leak discovered in the tricuspid valve could be made a little bigger. That chance and the state of the pulmonary artery blockage equates to a "good possibility" that she will need to have another surgery prior to age 5.But for now, Elizabeth is stable, growing well and teething. So for now and for her first Christmas, she is a normal baby. Praise be to God for He has given us a good gift in Elizabeth.
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