She had just an X-ray this time and her cardiologist listened to her heart for a while. Her cardiologist feels like her aneurysm isn’t going to cause any immediate problems, maybe not even until she’s into her 20’s. There is a possibility that it will never get bad enough to need to do anything about it! Which is great news.
That being said he told us there is no way to predict what will happen and since we do know it’s there, we will continue to watch it. She will have an echocardiogram in 10-12 months. Crazy! That’s the longest it will have been in between heart appointments for her.
Since this cardiologist is new for us (our other card left Primary Children’s Hospital), I asked about her pulmonary valve regurgitation. It hadn’t been showing up on her earliest echocardiograms, then it was only noted as trace or trivial amounts, but now it’s showing mild amounts of regurgitation (which I guess means more than trace or trivial). He hadn’t noticed the differences in echocardiograms before I pointed it out and said that is definitely something to keep our eye on. Unfortunately that is also the area next to her right ventricular outflow tract where her aneurysm is. If that area causes any problems then the likelihood of things going wrong with the aneurysm goes up as well. What they will look for in either case is if her right atrium and right ventricle become larger.
And finally, I asked Dr. Su about dental work and he said she does need to take medicine before going to the dentist. He said because of the valve leaking a bit more and the amount of stretching they did on the artery there, along with the aneurysm, it’s best we are cautious so she doesn’t risk getting endocarditis.
We know how blessed we are that we can watch and wait and see. Sometimes that’s difficult for me, not knowing still and waiting, but it also means things are going well right now. The reason we are waiting for the echocardiogram to be done that far away is so Ruby can get older and will hopefully sit still so she won’t need sedation. They will also possibly do an MRI as well. This enables us to have a better comparison for the aneurysm and heart size, to better see any differences that may be happening very slowly.
As I’ve expressed before, I feel that her heart defect is a blessing in so many ways. I’m so sorry she has had to go through so much, but it keeps our family close and it keeps us focused on what is important in life.
P.S. She was such a little busy body during the appointment. She actually got onto the elevator when I was talking to the lady at the desk, but luckily I ran and made it before she went upstairs alone. :) She is full of energy and spunk and personality and I just love everything about this little firecracker. She’s fiesty yet the sweetest little girl at the same time. She’s always giving us hugs and kisses, always concerned when someone is hurt, always the first to give hugs when someone is sad. She also is always saying thank you for really small things. Such a sweetheart!