A+ Patient!

Nate totally impressed me today! We had a great ride in to Winnipeg right after lunch today (ie. Nate slept!). It meant he was happy and ready for his 2:00 appointment.

For the first time ever, he did great for all the diagnostics! We were just getting ready for the EKG, when Dr. Soni popped in and told the technician (whom we'd never seen before) that she shouldn't worry or push it if Nate starts acting up (Dr. Soni is quite familiar with Nate's response to these tests!). But, like a calm and experienced pro, Nate just lay there with only a little bit of distraction required. Getting his blood pressure even went alright. After a short wait we were ready for the echo. Once again, he lay there and I just talked and played with him through it. He stayed so nice and still and they got some great diagnostics as a result! Maybe a few extra months made the difference, or maybe after Edmonton, he realizes that this is pretty easy!

Here's the summary of our talk with Dr. Soni:

• No change in the leakage, still severe
• The band is not as tight as they want, so not affecting the heart they way they want it too, but the heart is growing so the band will start putting more of a squeeze on that artery as the artery gets larger
• The ventricle (pumping chamber) that is having to do the hard work and compensate for the leakage is not showing signs of distress or failure at this time (yay!)
• The 'electrical system' or cardiac conductive system, responsible for heart's beating and rhythm is good. Complete heart block is an issue with many L-TGA patients.
• She has conferenced with the heart centre in Toronto. They feel that as long as Nate is clinically 'well' we should hold off on redoing the banding, and let him 'grow into' the existing band. If at any point in the near future Nate starts showing signs of heart failure they would go ahead with the surgery right away.

That's it in a nutshell! We are happy that there are no immediate changes needed - it feels like we just now are getting our old Nate back! Also so relieved that there aren't any negative issues right now or new issues - heart, or otherwise - to deal with.

Thanks for praying! Off to pack now! Saying good bye to the boys in the morning before I leave for work, since I'll be driving right to the airport after work. I'll say 'hi' to the mountains from y'all!