Cardiology Appointment Update- Hole in Heart :(

Yesterday was the day I've been dreading for a month now.  We had Haven's pediatric cardiology appointment at Children's hospital.  All month long I've been going back and forth trying to forget about it and worrying so much I could hardly take it.  I kept telling myself that the nurses didn't know what they were doing when they took the EKG and that her new doctor thought he heard something that he didn't.

Our appointment was at 9:00am.  First the nurses measured and weighed her.  Then they took another EKG.  I kept telling myself "everything is fine, everything is fine, everything is fine."  Haven did fantastic (of course) and excitedly counted all 13 stickers and clamps for the nurses.  And told them all about her stuffed pink bear she brought that she named "Pink Eyes."  And guess what?  The EKG looked great.  It didn't reveal any problems.  2 of the nurses then listened to her heart and they couldn't detect any problems either.  I was cautiously relieved, but I kept thinking "so what was wrong...?".

 

Then the doctor came in to give us the official EKG results.  Nothing.  He went on to say that sometimes the heart speeds up and slows in response to anxiety or other emotions.  That sounded great to me!  He then listened to her heart and heard something a little off.  A murmur or something.  So he wanted her to get a heart ultrasound.  I thought "okay, he's just doing this to be safe..."

We only had to wait 45 minutes for the ultrasound, which is pretty amazing.  The ultrasound tech said that it would take between 30-40 minutes to complete.  Haven had to lay still the whole time and got to watch a movie.  I stared back and forth between the screen showing Haven's heart, the movie and the clock the whole time.  30 min went by, 40 min, 50 min and then she said that she had to go talk to the doctor reading the results to see if he wanted more pictures.  I instantly knew something was off.  The doctor himself then came in and took more ultrasound pics for another 10-15 minutes.

We were then brought back into a room to hear the ultrasound results.  When the cardiologist walked in with a pencil and a blank piece of paper, my heart sank.  My mind was racing 200 mph thinking "what does he need to write down?  Why would he have to draw something?  Why is he sitting between us (Jason and I)?"

Then he says "Okay, I'm going to draw a picture of what is going on."  He drew the 4 chambers of the heart and explained that Haven has a hole in between the top 2 chambers, which is causing the right side of her heart to work much harder than the left side.  It's not really a problem when she's sitting around doing nothing, but when she is more active, her heart has to work even harder to pump the blood around and this causes her to get fatigued easily.  He then said we had 2 options to fix it or she'd never be able to play sports or have children of her own and there would be more complications down the line.  Option 1 is put a device in her heart to seal the hole.  Option 2 is open heart surgery.  It was then that I couldn't stop crying.  Seriously, THOSE are my 2 options?!  Wow, I was in so much shock!

Option 1 is our best bet, it's the least invasive.  He showed us the device and how it works.  They will go up through a vein in her leg and into her heart.  The metal/meshy looking circle piece goes through the hole, opens up and then they come back through the hole and another piece closes the other part up.  It looks like this, and the hole in her heart would be in the middle.

Then over the next several months, tissue will build up over the device, sealing up the hole and she'll be good as new and never need additional procedures or have any problems (hopefully).  The problem is, they can't be entirely sure that Haven's hole can be fixed with this kind of device.  He said with her, there is an 80% chance it'll work and a 20% chance it won't and that she'll need open heart surgery instead.  Then he said he'd like this done this summer around July.  He doesn't want to wait too long and he wants to wait until she's a "little bigger" before it's done.

We have a follow up appointment in May, which they will repeat some of the same tests that she had, I believe.  Then sometime in July we will arrive at the hospital early in the morning, Haven will have to be put under.  She will then have an esophagus ultrasound (down her throat) to get an even better look at her heart.  If it looks like the device will probably work, we'll continue on with that procedure.  If not, she'll have the surgery instead.  (Even if she gets the procedure, there's still a chance that it won't work once they get inside of her and she'll need the surgery still anyway.)  Then she will stay overnight for monitoring and will have to take it easy for 4 weeks with follow up exams, etc.

So, that is where we are at!  We need to watch and make sure she doesn't get overexerted (though she IS allowed to play soccer, baseball, and dance still).  She just needs to be able to rest when she's tired.  We also have to be careful if she gets any illnesses since she is more susceptible to pneumonia than the average child (which she has already had last year).

The cardiologist we saw does about 25 of these procedures each year and has done over 300 in all.  He listed off several cases where something didn't go right and almost all of those were when he was first starting out doing them.  I am still very nervous about the whole thing.  I know Haven will do great and I know that she's in great hands at one of the best hospitals around, but obviously any time you deal with the heart it's kind of a big deal!  All day yesterday I was shaking so bad I could hardly walk and my hands were shaking so badly I could hardly eat or type.

BUT if Haven is so great now (and she is!), then I can just imagine how fantastic she'll be at 100% functioning!

Family Pictures!

My awesome sister-in-law took our family pictures again.  I really need to update my site now! :)  I also have my holiday cards ordered, proofs okayed, and on their way! :)  I feel really on top of things this year, lol!

 

Happy Veteran's Day!

Venily had a Veteran's Assembly on Friday and learned this song.  I thought it was too cute! :)

A new, improved way to Christmas shop! ;)

I've had most of my Christmas "shopping" done since October and it is so hard to not give my girls their presents early, lol.  And they are getting lots of really nice stuff this year.  Not because we have more money, but because I've been winning them things online, haha!

The present I am most excited about giving them is their Leap pad 2's.  (one for each of them!)  I also used up all of my gift cards I won to buy them lots of accessories to go with them! A recharger pack, 2 carrying cases, 2 games, and 2 sets of headphones.  My fingers are crossed that these will be a hit!

I just totaled up all the stuff I have for them so far for Christmas and the retail value is $857.  I have only had to pay $10 so far.  Lol!

And I am so super excited that I won an AWESOME car seat yesterday for Haven.  It sells for $260 at Walmart!!  I'm not giving it to her for Christmas, just wanted to share my excitement! :)  I've never been able to afford a really nice carseat before and this one is great with awesome safety reviews!

I am still working on what I am getting everyone else for Christmas this year, but I feel a lot more on top of things this year than ever before! :)

Haven's First Dentist Appointment!

Haven had her very first ever dentist appointment last Thursday!  I knew she'd do great!!!  We got there 20 minutes early and got in immediately, which NEVER happens, lol!  I couldn't remember what they all did for 3 year olds, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.

Haven got her teeth cleaned.  She picked mint toothpaste.  She also got fluoride (strawberry) brushed on.  No complaints whatsoever.  She did everything she was asked.  The hygienist couldn't believe she had just turned 3.  Then she said that she doesn't usually do xrays for 3 year olds, but thought Haven could handle it.  She got her xrays and did fantastic! :)

The dentist came in and looked at her teeth.  He said they are PERFECT! :)  Yay!!!  I even asked about her front teeth being so close together, but he told me not to worry about it.  He also couldn't believe that she had just turned 3, lol!

So, a GREAT 1st appointment and we are all scheduled for another 6 months from now!  Haven got a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, and 5 stickers and was a very happy girl! :)

Election 2012!

WOO HOO!!!!  We are HUGE Obama/Democratic supporters in this household and it wouldn't be right not to mention how great this election season has been for us!  Both of the girls really got into it as well!

Venily was so proud to tell me that she voted for Barack Obama at her school the day before the election.  He won in her class and in her school, so she was pretty excited about that as well.  She had a weekly reader about the election and crossed off Romney on every picture and circled Obama for "who my mom votes for."  I was super proud!




I can VIVIDLY remember being in 3rd grade and voting in our class election.  I voted for Bill Clinton and was so excited that he won in our class and then in the actual election, so I know how she felt! :)

I stayed up late election night to get the official results, even though I was very assured by the 90+% chances he was being given for winning.  Needless to say, I felt tremendous amount of relief for his win!  Though I'm less enthusiastic about being in the same House predicament we are in.  Uhh! 

The next morning Venily was making herself breakfast (frozen pancakes that she was about to put in the microwave) when I told her the news!  She threw her pancakes up in the air, screamed, and came and hugged me!  I love it!!

I subbed the other Kindergarten class that day as well and it was so adorable to hear the kids talking about how excited they were!  Even a girl who I know for a fact has parents who are republicans, said she "voted" for Obama and was so happy that he won! :)

I am really hoping that now that the election is over both sides will start working together to get things done.

Halloween 2012!

We had so much this Halloween!  Neither of the kids decided on one single thing they wanted to be, lol, so they wore different costumes to every Halloween event we attended, lol!

Hay rides and pumpkin picking at the Bear Den Zoo (one of our favorite places to get pumpkins!)

Venily had her Halloween party at her class.  I came and volunteered for one of the stations (and was given the most difficult one to do, lol!).  We made spider webs at our station.  The kids all looked so cute!

 

We went to Venily's annual after-school Halloween party (where the whole school attends).  This is always so much fun!  There are costume judging for the various age levels (Jason won for adults last year, haha!).  And there are tons of games set up everywhere where you can win pieces of candy.  A "cake walk" which was hilarious and a lot of fun.  And tons of blow up bouncy houses and slides for the kids to play on!  We ended up going late since Venily and Haven had their final dance classes right before, so Jason and I didn't dress up this time, but the kids both had so much fun!

We went to Spooky City again this year where they have a little children's "parade" and then all of the businesses hand out candy.  Brrr, it was cold!

We had my cousin's son's birthday party to go to during our neighborhood's trick or treat, so we only did a couple of blocks after the party.

The girls drew their faces and Daddy carved their pumpkins!

Haven's is on the left the other 2 are both Venily's.

Haven made this ridiculously cute spider at preschool!

We went trick or treating on Halloween night (something I don't think I've ever done before, lol!) with Kaitlyn and Landen and had a lot of fun.  I was also happy that I was able to get the girls' winter coats under their costumes because it was very cold out!  Venily had a lot of fun.  Haven was getting tired and wanted me to carry her by the end, lol.

I'm kind of leaning towards a Halloween themed/costume birthday party for the girls next year since they both love dressing up so much, we'll see how they feel about it closer to the date, lol!