Graysen had the best cardiologist visit to date! His heart looks really good and there is no need for any procedures in the near future. We only received good news and Graysen has been cleared for six months!!!
His pulmonary branch pressures are still high, but they have not gotten any worse since his last visit. This was great news and a surprise to the PC (pediatric cardiologist). He stared at Graysen and said, "He just looks so ... healthy!" He said that Graysen's health is very rare for a complex transposition baby. He also said that there is a chance that Graysen may outgrow the need for a heart cath before his next surgery around 5 years old.
The restriction is at the point where the bovine conduit meets the two pulmonary branches. Two out of the three are living tissue, so if the branches grow and the scar tissue does not get worse, there is a chance that he will be fine until he outgrows his bovine conduit. Right now, the estimate is that he will outgrow his bovine conduit around five years old. Then, he will need another open-heart surgery to replace the conduit, valve, and do work on the pulmonary branches. However, that has always been expected and unavoidable.
It is getting more and more difficult to get Graysen to stay still for his echocardiograms. He had to be bribed with two lollipops, one for each hand, and the technician was only able to look at the pulmonary branches which is the main concern for Graysen. I do not know what we are going to bribe him with next time!!! I will not be happy if he earns himself a sedated echo. Those are a much bigger deal and way more expensive due to the anesthesia issues. It is the same procedure, but it has to be done in a hospital under anesthesia and takes all day due to anesthesia protocals with heart babies. The pictures are the same, it is just a way of getting the baby to stay still. The PC threatened it this time because Graysen did not seem like he was going to cooperate. However, I recommended giving him lollipops. The PC said, "We are all about lollipops," and it worked! (Although marginally...)
We are thrilled that Graysen is doing amazing! This was the best news that we have received his entire life and the doctor cleared him for six months, which is awesome!!! We went out to Cici's Pizza this evening to celebrate and then stopped into Party City which is nearby. The boys each ended up getting cool baseball hats. Daddy is a sucker for Transformers (Caleb's favorite) and Star Wars. (We have noticed that Graysen is obsessed with light sabers. He goes around the house pretending most objects are light sabers, makes the sounds, and imitates the light saber fights that he has seen on TV. It is hilarious. Lee has started calling him Lord Vader.)
Overall it was a great day!
This is Halloween Week, so Halloween festivities are in full swing. On Tuesday night, I took the boys trick-or-treating at North Grove Medical Park (also known as "Mommy's surgeon"). Today, we went to Katelin's house for a Halloween party. Festivities continue tomorrow with more activities. I am looking forward to the big culmination of this year's Halloween season: Kevin and Auntie's visit!!!
After a slow start to the Halloween season this year due to rainy weather, the boys and I are starting to get back into the swing of things. We started out the week by going to "Boo in the Zoo" on Sunday. Caleb was thrilled to be allowed to put on his Halloween costume and ran around the house in circles.
On Sunday, the boys and I went to "Fall for Greenville." It is one of my favorite festivals of the year. It is a food tasting festival, where you buy tickets to trade for little tastes of food from all kinds of restuarants. (Yummy!)
