The pendulum swings
Remember when we were worried about shortening fraction and ejection fraction? Well, you may recall that normal ejection fraction is 55 - 60%. Ellie's is now 73%. Normal shortening fraction is 35 - 40%, Ellie's is now 43%.
There is good and bad news to these numbers. As we have found in our stay at Primary Children's, too much of a good thing is always bad.
The good news is that Ellie's heart is getting much stronger. Her left ventricle is not nearly as dilated and the ventricle wall has thickened as any muscle would as it gets stronger.
The bad news is that as her heart has gotten bigger, her aortic valve has gotten thicker. It is having to work harder to push the blood out of the valve, hence the increase in the numbers. So it was proposed today that Ellie go in for another catheterization and ballooning of that valve.
The doctors, and thusly we, are very optimistic about this procedure. If it works properly and there is no regurgitation or leakage created, it should give Ellie more energy. This should help, in turn, with her eating.
Interestingly, this doesn't seem to be delaying the idea of getting her home. Phillis and Dr. Ethridge (today, being the FIRST time I talked with her that she DIDN'T freak out) both commented on getting her out as soon as possible. Teri and I are going to a C.P.R. class on Saturday to prepare. Yay!
P.S. Teri is better now, so we should see more pictures :)
There is good and bad news to these numbers. As we have found in our stay at Primary Children's, too much of a good thing is always bad.
The good news is that Ellie's heart is getting much stronger. Her left ventricle is not nearly as dilated and the ventricle wall has thickened as any muscle would as it gets stronger.
The bad news is that as her heart has gotten bigger, her aortic valve has gotten thicker. It is having to work harder to push the blood out of the valve, hence the increase in the numbers. So it was proposed today that Ellie go in for another catheterization and ballooning of that valve.
The doctors, and thusly we, are very optimistic about this procedure. If it works properly and there is no regurgitation or leakage created, it should give Ellie more energy. This should help, in turn, with her eating.
Interestingly, this doesn't seem to be delaying the idea of getting her home. Phillis and Dr. Ethridge (today, being the FIRST time I talked with her that she DIDN'T freak out) both commented on getting her out as soon as possible. Teri and I are going to a C.P.R. class on Saturday to prepare. Yay!
P.S. Teri is better now, so we should see more pictures :)
posted by paqogomez | 9:31 PM
1 Comments:
Note to self:
Good ideas for a present for Wendy:
Rhyming Dictionary.
;)
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