Emma
Well-known member
Hi everyone!
Chloe had her cardi appointment yesterday. It went really well!
Don't think she's ever had such a thorough check-up! She had the normal echo, ecg, x-ray, height (now 108cms!!!), weight (now 19.2kgs!!), then had 4 student doctors look at her ecg to guess her original diagnosis and listen to her heart and take her BP, to get used to a mechanical valve sound before their final exams next week. So she is well and truely checked out!
We saw a registrar first who took 40 minutes talking to me and looking at Clo (they normally take about 10 mins), then he sent us on to the consultant too who wanted to 'demonstrate' her to his students and look at her himself quickly.
The echo showed there is a slight leak at the bottom of the artificial mitral valve which there has been since surgery and always will be but it's not a problem. The blood flow through the valve is really good so it's not narrowed at all.
There is a leak still at the tricuspid valve but not a huge one, so again, its not a problem.
The best thing though, is that last time she went, in november, her right ventricle was enlarged very slightly and that was the reason she went on enalapril, to reduce it slightly and prevent it enlarging further. Anyway, the ventricle is not down to normal range for her age, as area all the other chambers of her heart! YAY! So enalapril has done it's job and the tiny dose she's on must be enough.
Both the reg and consultant said obviously we can't rule out any further surgery 'cos you never know if the valve will narrow or need replacing in the future but for now, she looks very stable and is doing very well.
The only slight down side was her ecg was still looking a bit dodgy, she's got the right bundle branch block (?) which she always will have 'cos of her CAVSD but she also has a few 'jumps' on it which apparently show she may well need a pacemaker at some point in the future.
It wasn't a total shock cos i had always been told that CAVSD patients quite often end up with them, as where there is a huge hole, the normal wiring of the heart has to go all the way round the outside, so disrupts the normal rhythm and not even surgery can correct this. So a bit of a bummer but not the end of the world. It could have been a lot worse!
They were going to put her to yearly appointments for the first time!!!! but we will be in Florida this time next year and need a recent cardi letter to take so they are going to see her 28th June next year instead.
All in all, a really good appointment and a very relieved mummy!
Emma
xxx
Chloe had her cardi appointment yesterday. It went really well!
Don't think she's ever had such a thorough check-up! She had the normal echo, ecg, x-ray, height (now 108cms!!!), weight (now 19.2kgs!!), then had 4 student doctors look at her ecg to guess her original diagnosis and listen to her heart and take her BP, to get used to a mechanical valve sound before their final exams next week. So she is well and truely checked out!
We saw a registrar first who took 40 minutes talking to me and looking at Clo (they normally take about 10 mins), then he sent us on to the consultant too who wanted to 'demonstrate' her to his students and look at her himself quickly.
The echo showed there is a slight leak at the bottom of the artificial mitral valve which there has been since surgery and always will be but it's not a problem. The blood flow through the valve is really good so it's not narrowed at all.
There is a leak still at the tricuspid valve but not a huge one, so again, its not a problem.
The best thing though, is that last time she went, in november, her right ventricle was enlarged very slightly and that was the reason she went on enalapril, to reduce it slightly and prevent it enlarging further. Anyway, the ventricle is not down to normal range for her age, as area all the other chambers of her heart! YAY! So enalapril has done it's job and the tiny dose she's on must be enough.
Both the reg and consultant said obviously we can't rule out any further surgery 'cos you never know if the valve will narrow or need replacing in the future but for now, she looks very stable and is doing very well.
The only slight down side was her ecg was still looking a bit dodgy, she's got the right bundle branch block (?) which she always will have 'cos of her CAVSD but she also has a few 'jumps' on it which apparently show she may well need a pacemaker at some point in the future.
It wasn't a total shock cos i had always been told that CAVSD patients quite often end up with them, as where there is a huge hole, the normal wiring of the heart has to go all the way round the outside, so disrupts the normal rhythm and not even surgery can correct this. So a bit of a bummer but not the end of the world. It could have been a lot worse!
They were going to put her to yearly appointments for the first time!!!! but we will be in Florida this time next year and need a recent cardi letter to take so they are going to see her 28th June next year instead.
All in all, a really good appointment and a very relieved mummy!
Emma
xxx
I hope Chloe's is a long one, too.
