Cardiologist Appointment

Jackson met with his cardiologist again today. The news was good for the most part. During his last appointment, the doctor discovered that there was leakage between the two sides of his heart where a hole had been patched up (he was born with a Ventricular Septal Defect, a hole in his heart which was repaired). Though it's still leaking, it is leaking less than before. This is good news.

Unfortunately, there is another problem. Scar tissue formed around the area where they stitched his pulmonary artery to his heart. This scar tissue has tightened, causing that portion of his pulmonary artery to become smaller than the rest of the artery. For this reason, there is difference in the pressure on both sides of this spot, causing his heart to have small heart murmurs. This is actually a somewhat common consequence of the arterial switch surgery, though ideally it would not have happened. In its current state, it's not a major problem, but they'll have to continue watching it over the months and years to make sure the problem doesn't get worse. If it does, he will require surgery again, though not nearly as major as the first.

Overall, however, he is doing well. The infection in his incision seems to be improving, or at least not getting worse. And as evidence of his healthy appetite, he weighed in at 12 pounds 7 ounces today!! Their scales could be off but probably not by too much. I guess we'll have to stop giving him chocolate cake...

Another Hospital Visit

Jackson had to go to the hospital again today but was fortunately sent home. His incision began looking a little "angry" last night. It developed a red area full of pus. Dr. Bichell (his surgeon) looked it at and thinks it may be one of the sutures (holds the incision together after surgery) may be dissolving and creating the pus. We'll keep watching it, cleaning it, and hoping it clears up.

He'll have his next cardiologist appointment on Monday during which they'll check to see if one of the valves is still leaking.

Pictures!

Jackson's still doing pretty well. We've got another cardiologist appointment on Monday during which they'll check again to see if one of his valves is still leaking. However, he's acting like a healthy little boy so we're optimistic about his progress. I've put some pictures up to share. Click the image below to see them all. Hope you enjoy...

Jackson's Photo Album

Pediatric Appointment

We had our second pediatric checkup this morning. Jackson now weighs 10 pounds: he is in the 75th percentile for weight and 80th percentile for height. He appears to be growing at a normal baby's rate now. The doctor is very satisfied with Jackson's health and his post-surgery progress.

Checkup with Surgeon

We met with Jackson's pediatric cardiac surgeon today, Dr. David Bichell. He performed the arterial switch on September 18th. We received a great report. He said that Jackson's heart sounds good and that his incision is healing very well. In fact, he said that, from the improvement in his incision, it appears as though the surgery was months ago. This was great news since there were originally concerns about infections in the incision. That is the last time we'll ever have to meet with Dr. Bichell unless Jackson were to require surgery again in the future.

Good Echo Results

Jackson had his first checkup today with his cardiologist, Dr. Casilda Hermo-Weiler. She is the doctor who diagnosed Jackson quickly after delivery and has watched him throughout the past three weeks. Today, she performed an echocardiogram and was very satisfied with the results. There was a little leakage out of one of his arteries but that's typical after this surgery and she wasn't concerned. His lungs looked clear and there was no fluid buildup around either the lungs or the heart. Tomorrow morning we are meeting with Jackson's surgeon, Dr. David Bichell, who performed the arterial switch. Dr. Bichell will check Jackson to make sure that he's recovering well at this point.