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...