Friday, July 31, 2009

Marcus update #16

Hi. We had the echocardiogram that I mentioned in the last update today, and spoke to the cardiologist. They are pretty definite now that the VSD is closed. They are also pretty definite that the ASD will not close without surgery. There is not a rush on this and we will probably do it sometime next year - maybe in the spring. There is also some mitral valve thing(that's a medical term, I think :) ), that they are going to fix at the same time. This surgery involves opening up his chest and stopping his heart. They said that if it all goes well he would probably be in the hospital for about a week.

I have to admit that my heart kind of sinks when I think about this. I wish that my baby didn't have to go through all of this. And I guess I wish that I didn't have to either. I know that the Lord is using this child in many ways in my life, as well as in the lives of my husband and children, and even those of our friends and family.

The fluid around his heart is still there. The blood work showed normal thyroid function, so it is still a mystery, why the fluid returned. The doctor prescribed some medicines to try this week, and wants to see another echocardiogram next week. We will be able to have that done at the hospital here though this time. He will know by then if the medicine is helping or not.

The doctor also wants to do a heart cathetorization soon to check the internal pressure in the pulmonary artery and try to find out why Marcus still needs oxygen. This test involves incerting a probe thing(another medical term) in his femural artery (at the top of his leg) and making it go up through his heart into his pulmonary artery. He would obviously have to be asleep - anesthetized - for this procedure. He sounded like he wanted to do that soon - within the next few weeks. This would be done at Phoenix Childrens Hospital.

I think that's it.

Thanks for your prayers for Marcus. We greatly appreciate them. We also appreciate people letting us know that they are praying for Marcus. It is very encouraging. Please also let us know if there is ever anything that we can do for you, or anything that we can pray for for you.

Remember...

God is great and prayer is powerful!

No comments:

Post a Comment