Yesterday, we had a follow-up appointment at Children’s to get the results of Stephen’s blood work. The main thing we were concerned about after his surgery was that he might have a clotting disorder. It is extremely rare for babies to clot the shunt, and his body rejected it completely. If you remember, the shunt would clot every 15 minutes and put him into cardiac arrest. So obviously, it was very necessary to find out what the problem is before his next surgery. We want to be fully prepared if other measures need to be taken.
The good news is that he does NOT have any type of clotting disorder! Hooray! All his blood work came back normal, except for the proteins in his liver. Those numbers were a little low, but they suspect its just because he’s young and the numbers will go up as he grows. We’ll follow up with that one in about 4 months to make sure the numbers increase.
So while this is excellent news, its also a little frustrating because there is still no clear answer as to why his surgery was so difficult. It also makes me nervous for his future surgery just because it will go on as planned with no special revisions. What if his body rejects the new valve or something? We still have a few months to prepare, but whenever I think about it, I can’t help but feel slightly uneasy. I have to remember that he’s working with the best surgeons out there and they are quick on their feet. They knew what to do when they ran into complications last time, and they’ll know what to do if, God forbid, anything happens this next time too.
Can’t help huggin’ and kissin’ this cute little bug all the time!
No doctor appointments next week (yay!) but he’ll be back to the cardiologist the week after. We suspect that check-up will go beautifully as always.
So good to hear good news about your little champ! He is really growing! I can totally empathize with you about the lack of sleep & how it totally consumes you. My first was exactly the way little Stevie is. But something happened about 4 months & he decided sleep was a great thing & started sleeping through the night & started taking better naps during the day. I know you already know, but hang in there, it WILL get better! 🙂 This being a mom thing is hard work huh?!!
It’s a double edged sword isn’t it? You don’t want to find something wrong but not knowing what is causing the problem (and what that might lead to) is so frustrating.
I find all I can do is deal with today. Tomorrow will have to take care of itself.
Steven looks amazing! It’s so great to see him thriving. You’ll get him big and strong and he will fly through the next surgery.
Yay for no Dr’s appointments.
Hey thanks.. love these pics and if you ever need a mama photographer so you can be in them too.. it gives me a lot of solace to capture beauty!