A medical update

I realize I haven't updated on Bennett's medical condition lately.  (Ok, I haven't really updated on anything lately.)  So here goes.



At the cardiologist- August 2011

August 2011 he saw the cardiologist.  It had been a few months since he had last been in.  The cardiologist he had been seeing had left to go to another hospital.  We considered staying with him, but in the end figured we'd rather stay with Children's. 

The ECHO was challenging.  Bennett did not like lying still.  They got some images, but not great ones.

We met (very briefly) with the new cardiologist and were told that everything looked good.  Come back in a year.

Fast forward to 2012.  When we left last year, they had mentioned the possibility of doing a sedated ECHO next time, but that they would let us know.  After a horrible experience with a kidney/bladder ultrasound back in February, Chris and I knew sedated was the way to go.  So I called and made it known that we thought it would be best if Bennett were sedated.  Finally we heard back that yes, they thought so to.  And then the appointment ended up being rescheduled a couple of times.

Finally at the end of September we were able to get in.  Being sedated meant nothing to eat after 2:30am the night before, and only clear liquids until 8:30am.  (Appointment scheduled for 9:30.)  Surprisingly he did well with nothing to eat, and didn't fuss about no milk.  He was more annoyed with the 2 hour drive to Children's in the morning.  Under "normal" circumstances it would take maybe 45-60 minutes, but it was rush hour.  Chris found some Thomas videos on his phone for Bennett to watch, and that kept him happy for a little while.

Then began the waiting.  At this point we're used to appointments at Children's taking excessive amounts of time with lots of time waiting.  In this case, we were told 9:30, they had us down for 10:00.  They got a height and weight and then brought us back.  Interestingly, our little pipsqueak, was pretty much right on the upper range of being able to take the sedation medicine. 



Passing time while waiting to be sedated. 

They had a play doctor kit in the exam room that Bennett liked playing with while we waited.  Finally they were ready!  The nurse came back in and gave him the medicine.  And then we had to wait for him to fall asleep.  Bennett does not like being told to go to sleep, especially a couple of hours before his normal nap time!  Daddy and I took turns holding him and trying to keep him still.  We couldn't put him down because he would likely fall and hurt himself.  Plus I think he would have been really confused about what was happening.  In the end Chris lay down on the exam table and held him.  All in all, this took maybe 15 minutes.

Then it was time to transfer him to the room where they do the ECHOs.  He woke up slightly when he was transferred but he went right back to sleep.  The nurse stayed with him and Chris and I went to get some food.



He also did some coloring with his new Aquadoodle
that he got for his birthday.



Some people have commented that they wouldn't be able to/ wouldn't want to leave their child there, but with our experience at Children's, we've learned that when you get an opportunity to eat, take it.  Doesn't matter that it's only 11:00.  Go. Eat. 

When we got back to the room the person doing the ECHO was just wrapping up.  They had been able to get great pictures and a very thorough look at his heart.  Bennett was still sleeping, so they went ahead and did an EKG.  Then the cardiologist came in to talk to us.

It was awesome being able to talk and be able to give our full attention to the doctor rather than only have listening while we're trying to entertain Bennett and keep him from getting into everything.  And the news is... He's doing awesome!  The cardiologist commented that Bennett now has "mild regurgitation".  Wow!  Such a change from what we were hearing just before he was born.  They may not do an ECHO again next year, but that's ok because they were able to get such a thorough look this time.  And everything is looking great.  No reasons why he should be prevented from doing sports or other activities.  Future surgeries?  Maybe, but likely not until he's a teen/young adult, and possibly won't ever need anything else.

When we were done talking, and Bennett had been asleep a decent amount of nap time, the nurse removed the EKG stickers.  This woke Bennett up.  The nurse commented that coming out of sedation was similar to being drunk.  And that like with alcohol there are happy drunks and angry drunks, there was a similar range of outcomes when coming out of sedation.

Bennett is a happy drunk!  But  he also thought he could act like his normal self.  Um, sorry buddy.  We had to hold him to keep him from falling down or crashing in to things.  After he drank some milk we were free to go.

He also had his 2 year appointment with the pediatrician that afternoon.  We had time to kill between appointments so we stopped by Brandeis to visit Chris' co-workers.  The effects of the sedation hadn't worn off yet.  It was a struggle to restrain him!  This is a boy who doesn't like sitting still for very long!  But it was entertaining watching him try to walk.  But also a little scary since we had to keep such a close eye on him.



Asleep in the waiting room.



Then it was off to the pediatrician.  Bennett fell asleep again in the car.  He must have still been feeling the effects of the sedation because he didn't wake up when we took him out of the car.  Plus he slept in my arms while hanging in the (noisy) waiting room.  It was awesome!  I haven't been able to hold a sleeping Bennett in almost a year.  I hadn't realized how much I missed that.



Asleep in the exam room.



Then when we took him into the exam room he was still sleeping.  The nurses kept asking if he was ok- was there anything wrong with him?  Nope, just the after-effects of the sedation medication.  Understandable though, because I can imagine if I saw him lying on the table like this I would probably freak out a little as well.

When the doctor came in, we woke him up since we had to get an updated height.  They didn't like the measurement that we had gotten at Children's because it was very different from the last measurement that they had.

And then it was a pretty basic appointment, except we had to keep a closer eye on Bennett to keep him from falling from chairs and crashing into things.  But he was good about sitting still when he needed to be examined.  Pediatrician didn't express any concerns to us.  Yeah, Bennett has a speech delay, but he is making progress.  (We'll be so happy when he learns to communicate more!)