Post Cardiologist Visit

Well, I had a visit with my cardiologist, Dr. Balzer, last Thursday. Mom, Dad and I were pretty curious to see how he thought I was doing and also to see how much I weighed since it's been about a month since I've been to see a doctor. We first got to meet with Dr. Broderick who went to Notre Dame with one of Mommy's good friends - they tell me St. Louis is a small world! My oxygen saturations looked really good and I weighed 13 pounds, 10 ounces and was 24 inches long - big boy! I was really curious about all of the medical instruments around me and I just loved staring at everything! The docs sent me to the heart station to get an EKG and an Echo and those both went really well - especially since Jim let mom hold me on her lap while they did the Echo this time and I got to have my monkey pacifier! When we got back to the exam room, Dr. Balzer and Dr. Broderick said that my Echo looked really good and he didn't see anything going on with my heart that might be an additional complication, so we were all very happy to hear that! He also said it was great that I was gaining so much weight and that I have stayed so healthy at home so far! He told us that they were going to schedule my cardiac catheterization in about a month, which is when they run a catheter up into my heart in order to check the pressures in there. As long as the pressures look good, that means that the blood will flow in the right direction once they perform my next surgery, the Glenn procedure. I will be in the hospital for a whole day when they do my "Cath" on February 15th and I have to go in the day before for a few hours to meet with the doctors and the anesthesiologist to get ready for the procedure. I have to admit I am not looking forward to going back into the hospital, but I am a big strong guy now so I know I will do just fine! Once everyting checks out on the Cath., they will go ahead and set a surgery date for me - yikes! Mom and Dad think it may be more like mid-March instead of late Feb. or early March because the further out I can make it from cold and flu season before they perform my next surgery, the better. And, because I'm doing so well so far, the doctors feel comfortable putting the sugery off a little until it is the best possible time for me to have it. I am glad that they are letting me get bigger and stronger before I have to go through that again, but it definitely makes me, my mom and my dad a little nervous to think about what is coming up. Well, enough about all that medical stuff! In other big news, my mom went back to work today! She and Dad worked hard to find some babysitters to take care of me during the day because I still can't go to daycare or even be around other children until after my next surgery. Luckily mom's boss and entire company is being very very understanding about my situation, so she got to spend a few extra weeks at home while we figured out our new plan! I was very happy that Dad was off for the MLK holiday today, so I won't actually stay with one of my new sitters until Wednesday. I think they are going to be a lot of fun, though, and we got to meet them both last week (and they think I am a pretty cute little guy so I think they are excited too!) Annie is my sitter on Tuesdays and Thursdays and she is going to school for Early Childhood Development and then KC is my Monday/ Wednesday sitter and she is starting the Nursing program at Barnes this May - so both of these girls will take excellent care of me! I also had to get my 3rd Synegis shot this morning - OUCH! I did not like it one bit but I didn't cry for long and now I am protected another month from getting really really sick if I were to get RSV. Other than that, I had a great day at home with dad - he is the best and makes me laugh all the time with his silly noises and crazy dancing. Well, I'll sign off for now and I'll be sure to update everyone after my visit to the pediatrician, Dr. Kreusser, next Wednesday!
Love,
Will