An Apple A Day...

We have had an awesome day!  Andrew had his cardiology appointment today.  We hadn't been there since June, and you might remember that we had so much trouble getting Andrew to cooperate.  He screamed during his EKG (they couldn't even get a reading), and we decided to skip the echo (heart ultrasound) thinking it would not go smoothly at all.  Dr. Mooradian had told us at that time, that if when we came back, we still couldn't get much info, that they would have to take him to the hospital and sedate him to have the tests done (yikes!)

So, needless to say, today I was slightly worried but cautiously optimistic.  We have been drilling "Elmo Goes to the Doctor" into his head, and I know that has helped him learn and understand more about the doctor.  We brought along his Elmo doll and stethoscope from his doctor's kit, and held our breath as we entered the office!

As it turns out...Andrew behaved perfectly! (Well, almost!)  He acted like such a big boy.  Everyone said how much more grown up he was this time, and daddy and I were so proud of him.

He never used to stand here to be measured.  Today he knew just what to do!

He was a little more unsure at the X-ray, but he's been really into bones lately (skeletons are his latest obsession), so we told him they were going to take his picture to see his bones, and it worked like a charm!

 

Here he is looking at his "bones" with daddy!

 

This is always the part he hates the most- the EKG.  Can you blame him??  How scary for a little guy to have to lay there (and lay perfectly still) with all these wires hanging off him.  He was so brave, and only cried a little.  He gave us the sad lip!

 

But once he found "Nemo" in the office, all was well!

 

While we waited to see Dr. Mooradian, he read a book with daddy....

 

And got into a little mischief, too! lol!

 

But he and Dr. Mooradian are old buddies, and Andrew let him listen to his heart without one peep!

 

He then sent us to have an echo.  Again, we held our breath.  Not only because we were worried he might not lay still (all these tests they have to lay so still!  How on Earth can anyone expect a 2 1/2 year old BOY to be still for this long?!) But we were also worried about what the results were going to tell us.  We were very prepared for the news that surgery loomed over our heads...

 

Well, this is pretty much how Andrew acted the entire time!  Once he discovered that they had Nemo on TV, all was well!  He was a happy boy!

 

Can you imagine a kid this excited to have an echo??

When it was over, Andrew roamed the halls and charmed the ladies into giving him 2 suckers!  When Dr. Mooradian came to share the results, we were beyond excited about what he had to say.  He said there had been no change (which is good- it wasn't worse!) since his last cath in February.  His pressures are remaining stable.  He said he feels Andrew can make it for quite some time with these pressures, without any need for surgery!  Woo hoo!  We will still have another cath (which we knew), but he even thought we might be able to put that off for a bit, too!  He contacted our doctor in Iowa City who will perform his cath, and he wanted him to have another lung profusion scan.  Big hospital terminology!  He had one of these done one other time when we were in Iowa City after a cath.  Basically it shows them if the blood pumping into his lungs is fairly equal on both sides.  Based on this info, they will decide when to proceed with his next cath.  We are hoping to be able to wait until February or so.  We are just so happy things went so well today.  We all went out to lunch to celebrate!

 

Andrew went on a field trip at school last week to the Apple Orchard.  It was a crummy, rainy day, but they had a lot of indoor activities for the kids so they still decided they could go.  I can't imagine how they are able to corral that many 2 year olds on a field trip and not lose one...but they manage somehow!  They said Andrew behaved very well and he had a great time.

 

Here he is on the bus on the way to the Apple Orchard!

And on the slide getting ready to land into the corn pool!

 

Here is his little class.  Aren't they adorable!  He cracks me up in the back, looking at the cute little girl instead of the camera!  Every night we say prayers for all his little friends at school.

 

Enjoying an apple!  (I tried to ignore how muddy his pants were! lol!)

So we are celebrating another good doctor visit.  We can only hope for more of those!  We will keep everyone updated on when we schedule the cath.  Thank you for continuing to pray for Andrew and our family!

**UPDATE: I made the comment section a little easier so it should work better to leave us a comment!  If you are an email subscriber, you can also click "Email author" at the bottom and I'll get the comment via email!  We love hearing from you!