I haven't updated in ages. We are having a busy and fun summer! I'll write more about that another time but wanted to let you know about Kirsten's cardiology appointment this past Thursday. You may have read it on Caringbridge but just in case...
The EKG and physical exam were the same as a yr ago. The echocardiogram revealed that her leakage in the homograft (the artery of another baby that they put in during her heart surgery when she was 6 days old) is the same. That is a huge praise. Originally we were told that the homograft would have to be replaced when she was 5-6 yrs old. She would outgrow it and/or it would calcify not allowing blood to flow through it. She hasn't needed that yet.
The echo also revealed that the obstruction of blood flow through the homograft is the same (you may remember the wonderful miracle in January 2009 in which the drs determined she needed a stint but during the heart cath, the pressures revealed she didn't), the ventricles are squeezing the same but the left ventricle is bigger. This is of concern to the dr.
Kirsten's liver is fine and there is no other reason that she can see that would make the ventricle bigger. That is good news.
This all means that Kirsten's heart doesn't look good but due to her high level of activity, the dr isn't too concerned. She did add a 4th heart medicine to Kirsten's daily meds. This is Lasix, a diuretic, to see if the removal of fluid from her body will decrease the size of the ventricle. She also gave Kirsten the restiction of no prolonged running bc of the strain on her heart.
She returns in 6 months for a repeated echo.
We were sad to learn that at this point no one would be willing to operate on Kirsten's heart. She would have trouble coming off the bypass machine. That means her heart and lungs couldn't handle being bypassed to perform the surgery. So that means no surgery unles it's a transplant. She will likely be a transplant candidate at some point. Probably years down the road. Fortunately she doesn't need any surgery at the moment. Increased leakage in the homograft would mean she needed surgery.
That's hard even to type. I spent the first few years of Kirsten's life waking up wondering if she had died in the night. I don't want to go back to living that way.
We are grateful for the almost 10 years of her life. What joy she brings us. Please pray for the Lord's healing hand on Kirsten but most importantly we want his will whatever it is and for him to be glorified through it. Please pray for comfort and strength for Brad and me. It would be so much easier if we could do something to fix this. Both of us are "fixers" which I suppose is one reason we are going through this trial.
May Job's words be true of each of our family members: "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold." Job 23:10
.JPG)
