Laura

Laura

Friday, April 2, 2010

Pediatric cardiologist appointment

Today was my appointment with the pediatric cardiologist, and let me just say, the wait for this day to come took forever! Not only did I have to stress about this day and what news I may get from the doctor, but I also had to stress about trying to find someone to cover my shift at work, which is apparently a very tough thing because no one wants to work on good Friday, especially drive all the way to Bristol to work. So I'll probably hear about it from the higher ups from my work about how I called out, but who cares, my daughter is much more important than work anyways. So now I got my venting spree out of the way, I can tell you about how my day at the doctors went.

First of all, I would reccommend the pediatric heart center of hasbro to anybody who needs their services. The team there is really nice and has awesome bedside manners and a good set up. The cardiologist, Dr. Ford, is really nice, she seems to know her stuff and was very determined to come up with a diagnosis. Plus, Dr. Ford recognized me from work from doing a NICU run a couple of months ago with her. I did not recognize her right away but once she said something, it made me remember her.

As for the ultrasound, it lasted just over an hour, which Laura made it very amusing this time. The first half went by so slow and Laura was a good girl and cooperated by letting Dr. Ford take some of the pictures that she needed. Then, about half way through I felt Laura wake up and start to move and could only think of how much she hates ultrasounds. Right I was because seconds later, the screen that was filled with a picture of Laura's beating heart, suddenly because empty as, I quote, "uh oh she ran away on me." Yes thats right, Laura decided to up and leave. So basically for the last half hour of the ultrasound, Laura decided to play hide and seek and "kick the ultrasound wand." She is definitely a quick little sucker, and a fighter...that is for sure.

So after having a good chuckle, Dr. Ford stated that Laura is an "interesting" case because after an hour of looking at her heart, the only thing the doctor could come up with is the same as the other doctor; an aortic arch problem. However; better stated by Dr. Ford than the other doctor I saw last week, she thinks Laura has coarctation of the aorta, which is basically a narrowing of part of the aorta. The good news is, her heart rate is right in normal range and she has no heart murmurs. The bad news is Dr. Ford said she can not exactly pinpoint the problem yet because Laura is too small, so for now it is backing to the waiting game. So, in four more weeks, I go back to Dr. Ford so she can do another ultrasound/echocardiogram where hopefully she can get a better view of the heart and its structures.

Lately, I have been feeling a lot more optimistic than I did the past couple of weeks. With all of the praying and support from family and friends, and the excellence in the hasbro pediatric cardiac team, I feel as though Laura is in good hands both spirituallly and physically. Laura has also put me in awe by the way she has proven to me that she is a fighter. Everyday, throughout the day, she'll have her random work out sessions where she kicks, non stop, for a good half hour to an hour straight. This is when I become puzzled because from the outside, she kicks and moves and responds to my touch by kicking back, but in reality she has a problem and she is not 100% healthy. But, I have faith in my little girl. I like to look at her kicking and such as her way of telling me "hang in there mommy, be strong, I'm fighting this so don't give up on me and I won't give up on you." So for now, I'll keep reminding myself to take it one day at a time and enjoy the kicks and movements that Laura shares with me.

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