Brayden has been seeing the same cardiologists Dominic has since we got custody of him back in 2008. Prior to Dominic being born, I was under the impression Brayden just had a heart murmur that they preferred to keep an eye on. Nothing big. Nothing concerning. However after Dominic was born and Roland and I became uncertified cardiologists ourselves, we discovered that Brayden has a VSD or Ventricular Septal Defect, which are fancy ways of saying he has a hole in his heart. Up until his cardiologist appointments last year, there was no concern. His heart was stable and there was no plan for closing his hole. But last year they noticed that although the hole did get a bit smaller, it was in primary position to start effecting the function of his aortic valve. This year, it was confirmed during his ECHO that it was in fact making his valve "floppy" and that he now needed surgery to close the hole and fix the valve.
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| Siblings picture before Brayden heads off to Edmonton! |
So Brayden and Roland traveled to Edmonton on Wednesday, for his preadmission clinic yesterday, and to prep him for his surgery today. He is second case, which means he goes in just after lunch.
It's interesting the arch Brayden has gone through since we started taking him to these cardiology appointments. I think initally it was just like any other doctor's appointment to him, no real concerns came from it, but it was required he do them every year. When Dominic was born, he went through a phase of "I wish I could have surgery" (which is REALLY weird in my opinion. Did he think it was like a vacation?), perhaps because of the attention that Dominic got from having surgery after he was born. Then as Dominic's heart got more stable, Brayden's became more of a concern and I think he regretted his wish to have surgery. Once it became a reality, he didn't want to do it. Up until they day they left, he really wished it wasn't happening. Roland said yesterday after talking to all of his doctors about what to expect, he's a bit more relaxed and accepting of his situation.
Here's hoping that all goes well today! Send Brayden your best thoughts! (or maybe even text messages to Roland's phone to pass on messages to Brayden?)
Keep us updated! I'll be thinking of them all day.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of too bad that it has to be in the afternoon instead of first thing in the morning, more time to think and worry if it's later in the day.
I take it as a good sign that after Brayden had things explained to him of what was going to happen that he felt better, hopefully that means the procedure will be pretty straight-forward and he'll have a better recovery. I'd imagine not being so stressed before the surgery would make recovery afterward easier, if he's less tense going in to it.
Anyway, yes, they'll be in my thoughts. I did text them yesterday, but I doubt they'd send me a text when they get out of surgery, and how recovery is going. I'd like to know ;) if anyone has a moment to text.
-JMc
Oh man, I didn't see this until now! But I have been sending you energy since last week because you posted something that made me wonder. I hope everything went okay and that he's resting and recovering and well on his way to home/comfort/at it all again! :)
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