Another check-up

Back at GOSH again yesterday (Mon 4 Sept) for another check-up (and two hour wait!) for Little S.

 

Dr D was on good form – blowing bubbles to keep Little S (and Not So Little T who was also with us) occupied – apparently J is the second best bubble blower he has ever met!

 

And Little S is still doing really well – Dr D said we should get an angiogram scheduled in the next month or two to check her arteries in more detail – which means another general anaesthetic for Little S. They would then use the results to make some decisions about when she might have her operation to close the VSD (hole-in-the-heart) and replace the goretex tube with a proper valve. This could be at the beginning of next year but, if Little S is doing really well, they may delay by a few months or even up to a year or two as it is easier to do this kind of surgery on a larger child (which makes sense – the intricacy of what the surgeons do is mind blowing so anything that makes their job easier has to be a good thing – although, if she’s older, it would mean a lot more difficult conversations with, and probably questions from, Little S).

 

We also talked a little about whether we should try to find out the cause of Little S’s heart defect – Dr D said he’d make sure that the appropriate genetic testing was done at the same time as the angiogram which would let us know if the condition is genetic or if it was just very bad luck. ‘Very bad luck’ would be a better outcome really as a genetic condition would mean that there’s a chance that our grandchildren could have the same condition. Either way, the rest of the already born family have nothing to worry about – Little S’s condition does not increase anyone else chances of heart problems later in life.

 

So we headed home again – having Not So Little T with us kind of took our mind off Little S’s ‘condition’ - we can put off our concerns about major operations and heart conditions for another month or two – until the angiogram comes around. (Update: now scheduled for Tuesday 16 October)