On Friday, we went to the cardiologist to get a check up on the ASD in Ellie’s heart.
Sam heard me talking earlier in the week about taking Ellie to the doctor, and she had lots of questions. She was very concerned for Ellie and was sure the doctor was going to “slice her.” Yes, those were her words. When Ellie got up from her nap that day, the first thing Sam did was tell Ellie that she was going to the doctor to get sliced. Yikes! I began telling Ellie that we were going to the doctor to get a picture of her heart. She said “No, Mommy do it.” I apologized for not being able to do it. She said “Daddy do it.” I again apologized and said that the doctor had to do it. She said “ok.”
We went through the same routine again, getting an EKG first. Ellie laid down on the exam table and quietly let the nurse put 10 stickers all over her chest. It only lasted a minute or so before all the stickers had to come off. She didn’t mind.
Next, we went back to the exam room for a sonogram. The doctor asked if she was ready to see her heart dance. They gave her a sucker, which occupied her sufficiently during the exam. She sat in my lap for most of it, but because she was doing so well, he asked if she could lay down on the table by herself. She had to crane her neck more to see the pictures, but she was so calm and nonchalant about the whole thing. We watched her heart beat, jump and dance on the screen. He turned the colors on, so we could see oxygen-rich blood and oxygen-poor blood coming and going.
The doctor spent lots of time looking at all the chambers and valves of her heart. He commented that her heart had a 71% pumping rate, which is very good. Everything looked good, and he couldn’t find anything abnormal. The hole has closed up and healed. Hurray!
We came home with a sonogram picture to show Sam. I’m not sure what she was expecting, but a black and white grainy image was not it. You can see the 4 chambers of the heart, with the mitral valve open. I’ll try to get it scanned and added here.
UPDATE
Here is the sonogram picture. The line straight up the middle is the septum, separating the left and right sides of the heart. This is the ventricle side, but you can see the atria in the background. The mitral valve is open, which are the two squiggly lines on the right side (from the left atrium into the left ventricle).
What? You don’t see that?
Yay for Ellie.
Uncle Will did actually go to the doctor and get sliced last week.
You know Janie, that Alex had an ASD as an infant. The MD found it before we left the Hospital with him. It was gone at about 6 months, however, they only listened with a stethoscope. I feel quite sure if we had of had modern technology, it really probably took a couple of years for it to close up.
I’m very glad Ellie had no slicing! She was very brave!
Yay! Great news!
Suckers are definitely God’s gift to moms.
I’m cracking up at Sam’s slicing comment. Classic.