Christopher had his echocardiogram yesterday. His cardiologist wanted him sedated so that they could look very carefully at the 'interesting' area of his aorta. Because of the sedation, he wasn't allowed to eat for four hours before the procedure, which made a very grumpy boy. However, the sedation went well and he was fast asleep for the test. He did decide to wake up halfway through, though, and he had to have a second dose of chloral hydrate to knock him out again. (Chloral has been around forever because it works nicely and doesn't tend to make kids sick - Christopher's great-grandfather commented that it was in use when he was a medical student!)
There were two reasons for the sedation: to keep him still for the echocardiogram, and to get an accurate measure of his blood pressure. It turns out that his blood pressure is pretty good and is the same in all of his limbs, so we were pleased with that. (It was a systolic of 90 - high for an infant, but not high by Christopher's standards!)
The echocardiogram confirmed that the Gore-Tex patch is partly obstructing the flow in his aorta because it is sort of bulging into the lumen, just where it goes around the bend of the aorta. The flow in the area is actually a little better than they were getting on last week's echo. However, they still say it is a 'moderate' obstruction.
Other than this issue with the patch, the rest of his aorta and heart look great.
The question remains about what to do about this. Christopher's cardiologist sent the images from the echo to Sick Kids yesterday and he called us today with their conclusions. Basically, they want better pictures of what exactly is happening in that area, which will help them decide what to do about it. The best want to get a better look is an MRI. So, Christopher is going to be booked for another MRI, likely the week after next.
I can't say I'm thrilled about Christopher having to go through another MRI, since it means he will have to have another anesthetic and be intubated again, in order to keep him still enough for the test. I just feel sorry for the poor little guy, having to go through that again. However, if that's what he needs, that's what we'll do, and we'll all get through it!
The cardiologist emphasized that this isn't an urgent issue. I asked him if it's safe for us to go out of town for a couple of days and he said that if it wasn't safe, he would have Christopher admitted to the hospital now and they would be doing the test tomorrow. As it stands, he feels fine with waiting to do it until after next week. (Next week is 'shutdown' for the cardiology department, so almost all of their staff is away.)
Christopher is still a pretty irritable little guy, although I think he's getting a little better. He absolutely loves the baby carrier and sleeps well in there - in fact, he can't keep himself awake when we put him in there, no matter how hard he tries! The cardiologist mentioned today that he had run into the head of Neurology in the hospital and asked about the irritability. The neurologist apparently feels that it's actually not likely due to the stroke at this point, and is more likely to be due to a 'normal baby' reason, like colic or acid reflux. We are waiting for an appointment with a general pediatrician, who will follow Christopher with respect to development, so hopefully that person will also have some suggestions about how to deal with the cause of the crankiness!
Lots of photos to share:
Hanging out with Grandpa Ken in Ottawa this week
Katie on an Ottawa River boat cruise today with her 'aunties.'
Christopher's newborn hair is falling out,
so he has a nice 'balding old man' look going on right now.
I'll take this as good and think positive. I hope he grows into his patch and it can be treated with meds until he does. He looks like such a handsome wee little man.
Enjoy your family trip! You all deserve it!
Posted by: Farandolae | 07/28/2011 at 01:02 AM