Nolan's Heart

Today, we met with the new Pediatric Cardiologist, which very unfortunately, we'll be seeing again. 

Just a quick rundown/update:

When Nolan was about 2 weeks old our Pediatrician suddenly heard a heart murmur that hadn't been heard at prior visits.

We were sent for a Echocardiogram (ultrasound of his heart). The test showed some abnormalities and we were referred to a Pediatric Cardiologist in St. Louis. 

There we were told Nolan had two small holes in his heart, questionable function of a flap that was allowing blood to mix in the wrong places, and a valve in question because it couldn't be seen very well in the images. 

Even with all of that, the Cardiologist had no major concerns. He sent us on our way and said he'd only be concerned if these were still present at 6 months. 

At 6 months old Nolan visited his new Pediatrician here in Alameda. She still heard the murmurs and so we were on our way again. 

[Fan Fact: I've always been told or heard it said that a murmur is a hole in the heart. That's not true. A murmur is simply an abnormal sound in the heart that could be caused by a hole - or something else - or cause by absolutely nothing. So just because you hear someone has a murmur, doesn't necessarily mean anything.]

We were referred to a very nice Children's Hospital in Oakland, where we saw our new Pediatric Cardiologist.

It was a long, emotional morning. Full of stress, prayers, and tears. 

My emotions have gone wild since my pregnancy. Back in the day, I could keep myself together pretty well. Now, it seems as though my baby can whimper and I'm in a bout of slobbery sobs. Not really, but you get the point. 

First they did an EKG. Nolan did not like it, but daddy held his hand and mommy sang to him and he was a brave little guy:

Then we were back in our room and the doctor was knocking in no time at all. He was very kind and thorough. He explained everything. 

He took a listen at the ole ticker:

Of course, he heard the abnormalities and setup a new ultrasound. I was very  pleased that it was right across the hall and happening immediately. I thought, "at least we don't have to wait for another thing." 

The ultrasound was a nightmare. It was thirty minutes past Nolan's nap time and he was turning into a screaming, red, rage monster. 

I felt so bad for him.

And, honestly, I thought he was doing fantastic. The procedure just took a long time. 

It didn't help that it took three different doctors to determine "what that was" which ended up being the esophagus. Not a great moment for parents trying to hold down their own screaming child while several medical staff stare at a monitor displaying their kid's insides while saying, "What's that?"

Finally, we were on to the heart. Great. All that time and now we're on to the heart. 

Awkwardly, she kept asking me to nurse my baby while she did the procedure thinking it would calm him. 

I had to explain several times that he wasn't hungry. Good grief, people! Just because a baby is fussy doesn't mean they're hungry. My baby is on a schedule here. He's fussy because it's flipping nap time. I love our schedule for that very reason. I don't have to guess if it's food time or nap time. I know based on what time it actually is.

When that was finally over it was only another short wait before the doctor was back in telling us the results. 

Of course I started crying. He assured me there were only minor concerns. 

It doesn't matter all that much though, does it? Maybe I'm being shallow here, but no mother wants something to be wrong with her baby's heart. No matter if the word minor is attached to it or not. Granted, I was thanking Jesus walking out of that hospital that we did get the word 'minor' before the fancy doctor words. 

Here's what they found (brace yourself for the artistic skills of a cardiologist):

First, he has Bicuspid Aortic Valve. Which is a condition of the aortic valve where there are only two flaps instead of three. This could cause leaking later on. The doctor told us the good news here was that his two flaps are working correctly and as long as they work correctly, there is no other concerns and we should just watch it.  

Secondly, he has Aberrant Right Subclavian Artery. This means he has an artery running behind the oesophagus and another heart valve. This, the doctor told us, could be the cause of his little breathy wheeze, croupy cough, and possibly the reflux. However, again, we were told it's minor and doesn't warrant concern unless he becomes symptomatic to it. 

He wants to check on it again in 6 months. So, I feel like we're still just waiting. He did stress that both of these abnormalities may never cause any serious concerns for Nolan's whole life. It just seems like too many maybes to me. 

My faith doesn't rest with the words of a doctor or diagnosis of procedures though. We're a blessed generation to have such skilled doctors and medical technologies to utilize, but they never get the last word.