Monday, May 21, 2012

life lately & a diagnosis.

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So I neglected to mention in my last post what exactly was found at Harrison’s one month check-up.  There had been concern that the little guy wasn’t gaining enough weight since birth (which is totally unusual for my little butterball boys).  Also, his heart sounded like it may have a hole, or murmur (which may have been the cause for less weight gain).  So my pediatrician sent us to the cardiologist last week to check out his heart.  They hooked him up to lots of little wires and machines and did their thing.  It is quite a helpless feeling seeing your little tiny baby like that.  Long story short, we found out that Harrison actually has something called Mild Pulmonary Valve Stenosis.  I was caught quite off guard by the whole thing to be honest. Here is a picture to help explain the issue (if you are interested)…
pulmonary-stenosis
The pediatric cardiologist explained it as like a kink in a garden hose. There is basically a narrowing of the valve causing more pressure as the blood passes through to his lungs.  If it gets worse, it makes the heart muscle work too hard, causing damage.  He has a mild version, but we will need to go back again in 3 months to see if he has grown out of it.  The cardiologist said that if we had to choose between a hole or the stenosis, that the stenosis is the better of the two (whatever that means). There is no steroid treatment or antibiotics at this point.  It is just a waiting game for now.  Please pray for our little man.  Even though it is a mild case, I still feel unsettled since this is new territory for me.  We are blessed that he is still a happy little guy, and completely healthy otherwise.

6 comments:

Laura Lauschus Hubbard said...

We'll keep all of you in our prayers!

Brookel said...

Amber, we will be praying and you'll be in our thoughts. We hope to see you all soon :)

Philippe said...

We will keep Harrison in our prayers. ;)

The Thompson Family said...

Oh Amber! I'm so sorry to hear that. :( We will have little Harrison and you guys in our prayers. We love you guys!!!

Steve and Donna said...

we certainly we'll keep little Harrison in our prayers :)

robin marie said...

How scary! We'll definitely keep Harrison in our prayers!