I'd much rather be writing some love letters to R&Q instead of this heart update today. However, I've had a lot of people ask about Q's heart MRI she had a couple of weeks ago and I FINALLY just got the results and was able to talk to the doctors. That in itself, is a whole other story, and one I won't choose to focus on today. Let's just say there was a whole lotta "Momma Bear" that came out of the woods this week.
At any rate, OF COURSE the doctor called right after we got over to my friend Ashley's house for a playdate/mommy happy hour. So I was a little off my game with 4 kids running around. But Ash threw me a notebook and a pen and I tried to concentrate. This is what we know:
(A little background: the MRI was scheduled because at Q's last echo, her cardiologist picked up that perhaps the narrowing her in her branch pulmonary arteries was becoming less on mild scale and more on the moderate to severe side. The only way to rectify this situation is by doing a cathether procedure, basically stenting out those arteries, much like you would do with an adult who's had a heart attack. It typically is a one day surgery and is definitely not open heart which is good news.)
The good news: the right side of Q's heart (which was formerly very stiff) is pumping along great and working very well for her body. The narrowing on her right side would still be considered moderate. Clinically and physically, Q is doing well and not in any danger.
The bad news: the left side is leaning more towards the moderate to severe narrowing. There's even a small area that they would consider pretty severe. Yuck.
What it all means: We are headed for cath sooner rather than later. And by sooner, thankfully I don't mean next week. Probably more in the 3-4 month timeframe. The awesome thing about all of these diagnostic tools at TCH's disposal is that they can monitor and assess constantly so that nothing is a surprise (or that's the plan). So basically this is a surgery that has to be done BEFORE any damage is done to her heart muscle. And we have a little time before that happens.
So the course of action is to run the MRI results past Q's brilliant surgeon, Dr. Fraser, and make sure he's on board. Then once they get the go ahead, we'll schedule with the cath lab and go from there.
Honestly, I am not surprised at this turn of events. It wasn't our timetable, but then again, heart children vary rarely follow our plans. Things happen and each patient is just so unique and individual, it's hard to predict exactly when things will crop up. I am just darn thankful that we have the best care so that Quinn can continue to maintain the best quality of life.
That being said, I know that cath (in the heart world at least), is worlds away from the worst-case scenario. But it's still my daughter. And I don't want her to have to go through one more thing. But that's not realistic. We know at some point she'll need more interventions, most likely open-heart, to repair that bad Pulmonary Valve, and who knows what else.
So all I can focus on and invest my energy in is getting through this next hurdle. And if the past is any indication of the future, my strong little warrior will fly through this and recover much faster than her parents. : )
God is still good and Jesus is still Lord. We KNOW that to be unchanging and true.
Go Team Quinn!
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