Square One?
On Wednesday the doctors told my wife and I that Ellie had not progressed for 3 weeks. "She looks so much better clinically" I said, using their word for her overall appearance. "It's not good enough." Dr. Cowley said, "We are going to put her on the list for a heart transplant."
He continued, "We have 3 options. One, we could balloon the valve again, her valve is so thick though that it probably wouldnt help and might cause more regurgitation (leakage) back through the valve.
Two, we could do a valve replacement. She is not a good candiate for this however, because her left ventricle would probably not restart after a surgery like that.
Three, She could receive a heart transplant."
(He must have not done well in 2nd grade, 3 - 2 = 1 option)
By this point I believe my heart was in my little toe.
"We've been down this road before." I said. "Dr. Ethridge freaked out 3 weeks ago, said we needed to transplant, but she got better!"
Dr. Cowley continued "blah, need more info, blah blah blah de blah de this afternoon blah blah.....".
"OK", I sighed.
She went to the Cath Lab later that afternoon, when I saw her that evening, I couldnt bear to see her intubated again. We didnt feel like taking pictures.
The first word we got back from the diagnostic catheterization was that the pressure in her lungs was low, this means that she is a good candidate for a heart transplant. I guess that's good news.
This story has a happy ending however. My little Ellie continues to amaze and surprise them. A detailed analysis of the catheterization revealed that her heart function was much improved from what they could see on the regular echocardiograms, so she doesn't have to go on any list.
I hate doctors.
He continued, "We have 3 options. One, we could balloon the valve again, her valve is so thick though that it probably wouldnt help and might cause more regurgitation (leakage) back through the valve.
Two, we could do a valve replacement. She is not a good candiate for this however, because her left ventricle would probably not restart after a surgery like that.
Three, She could receive a heart transplant."
(He must have not done well in 2nd grade, 3 - 2 = 1 option)
By this point I believe my heart was in my little toe.
"We've been down this road before." I said. "Dr. Ethridge freaked out 3 weeks ago, said we needed to transplant, but she got better!"
Dr. Cowley continued "blah, need more info, blah blah blah de blah de this afternoon blah blah.....".
"OK", I sighed.
She went to the Cath Lab later that afternoon, when I saw her that evening, I couldnt bear to see her intubated again. We didnt feel like taking pictures.
The first word we got back from the diagnostic catheterization was that the pressure in her lungs was low, this means that she is a good candidate for a heart transplant. I guess that's good news.
This story has a happy ending however. My little Ellie continues to amaze and surprise them. A detailed analysis of the catheterization revealed that her heart function was much improved from what they could see on the regular echocardiograms, so she doesn't have to go on any list.
I hate doctors.
posted by Lilacmusic | 9:51 PM
1 Comments:
We ride such a roller coaster from Tuesdays to Thursdays that you would think we could suspend emotion until the final statement is made. Instead, what the Dr. say has more power than our beautiful little Ellie when she shows us each day how well she is.
I am writing this so I can go back to it for reference the next time the Dr. makes me cry. I'm listening to Ellie from now on.
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