It might be a sign of how not worried we are about Natalie's heart condition that I can't even find that I posted about her last cardiology appointment, one year ago. Natalie has a bicuspid aortic valve (normal hearts are tricuspid) that has not caused her any problems to date, and the doctor predicts that there won't be any problems for 20-40 years.
But he still wants to check her annually to make sure. An interesting thing about Natalie's cardiologist is that he is over 80 years old. Every year I wonder whether he will still be there: has he finally retired, or worse? He usually has a student or resident with him when he sees Natalie, and the student is never able to hear the tell-tale signs of a bicuspid aortic valve...I don't know if it's because the cardiologist has the more expensive stethoscope, or the better ears.
As usual, Natalie's heart sounds fine. Her height is 37 inches and her weight is 34 pounds. After we left, another mom at the elevator asked how old Natalie is. When I said "three and a half," she commented, "she's tall!" Ha! I wonder if people still think of Natalie as younger than she is because of her behavior, even when they learn she is three and a half (she's about the 20th percentile for height for her age).
The cardiologist made several interesting comments. While discussing bicuspid aortic valve with the resident, he said, "Maybe by the time it needs to be fixed, in 20-40 years, they will have a better way to fix it." That's encouraging, but also a reminder that she will likely need it fixed eventually. But that's a long way off. For now, we're just gearing up for her surgery on September 3 to completely close her stoma from the g-tube. Wow, that's less than one month away!
4 comments:
Interestsing. Is this issue with Natalie's heart a common to RTS? I've not heard of it before. Am glad to hear that things look good for now and that it is not causing her any problems. We are fortunate to live in a time where the technology advances are great!
How exciting about Natalie no needing her G-tube anymore! I can't even imagine what that feels like but am thrilled that she has surmounted such a huge step!
CONGRATULATIONS!
That's funny cause at Andrew's 3 yr check up he was 36 inches...so not much difference in their height!
Christine, It's common for RTS kids to have heart issues...usually they're not serious heart defects, but often there are small defects, as in Natalie's case.
That's interesting, Michelle. Tom and I think that because we're tall (6'2" and 5'10") that Natalie might be on the tall end of RTS kids, so more like typical kids in height. She just looks very short next to her brothers.
Alex still has a PDA, but no one seems worried, so like you we are just checking it annually. Im so glad everything is fine for now.
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