Cardiologist Visit - June 11

We apologize for the delay in posting the latest bit of information on Ella Cate. It's been a busy couple of weeks! On Wednesday of last week we had another check-up with the cardiologist at Blaire E. Batson Children's Hospital. Again, we got positive news! The doctor advised us that we were probably looking at doing the heart cath anywere from the middle to the end of July. He would like for Ella Cate to be more than 8 pounds when he does this. Ella Cate now weighs 7 lbs. 11 oz.

The good news from this visit is that there is a possibility that when the doctor is doing the heart cath, he can fix all three of her issues at that time. It is also possible that the only thing that needs fixing is the pulmonary valve!!! That is great news because that is the least dangerous of any of the three procedures. The doctor still believes that the coarctation may not be quite the issue that they originally thought it was. He thinks that the turbulence they see in the aorta on the echo is coming from the valve issues. He also thinks that it's entirely possible, not necessarily probable, but possible that the aortic stenosis may be just mild enough not to require any procedure to be done! He said that this possibility is, ofcourse, looking at the situation 100% optimistically, but it's still possible. This is a much better prognosis than we were looking at before!

So, to sum it all up, we will have a heart cath middle to end of July. While doing the heart cath the doctor will fix anything at that time that needs to be fixed by ballooning. This includes both valve issues (if necessary) and the coarctation (if necessary). This procedure will likely take about an hour and if everything goes well, she will only need to stay in the hospital overnight. We go back to the doctor for another echo this week and then we won't go back for about 3 weeks (mid-July).

It's looking up! The Lord has blessed us continuously with good news each time we have visited the cardiologist. We thank Him for the positive news this visit as well! We thank you for your continued prayers and support!