Cardiology Appt . . .

We took Matthew to his cardiologist appointment last Monday and all went well. It has been 6 months since we've been there and to our surprise they moved across the hall to a much larger area. We walked in the door to be greeted by our favorite receptionist who couldn't wait to see Matthew. She called back to the nurses and they all came up front to see how much Matthew has grown. We are so lucky to have such an amazing cardiology group right here in Peoria. It is wonderful to see how much they love our little boy. We also ran into Gail who was our contact person from the beginning. She met with us while I was pregnant and gave us the tours of the NICU and PICU and answered our hundred questions. She has been with us and most of the families every step of the way. It was great to see her again. She couldn't get over how much Matthew and Taylor have grown. Gail has always taken an interest in our whole family and not just our heart baby. Gail is amazing and all of those who know her will agree.


Dr. Hasselman said Matthew looks great. His blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and pulses were perfect for him. It was great to hear how well they feel his heart is doing. Now for the news I was dreading.... Matthew will go in for his 3rd open heart surgery this next spring or early summer. We'll go back to see Dr. Hasselman in January and have an echo done. From there we will schedule a heart cath for the spring and then surgery will be planned. I was really hoping for the following summer but I knew that wasn't likely. Dr. Hasselman told us it is better to do it before he gets much older because the recovery will be quicker. He spent a lot of time explaining and made us feel comfortable that next spring will be the best time. We came into the appointment with a lot of questions. We've never asked a lot about the 3rd surgery because we wanted to get past the first two. We had read that the fatality rate for the 3rd surgery is 15% but Dr. Hasselman told us that he is proud to say that Peoria's rate is more like 1-2% which was encouraging to hear. He said that if Matthew has no leaky heart valves and his coarctation hasn't returned then he thinks Matthew will pull through with no problems and could be out of the hospital in a week or so. That was great news too.


Here was my big question: What is the realistic expectation for Matthew' life span and quality of life? I hate to admit it but I think about this every day and I've tried to educate myself as much as possible but every heart case seems to be so different. I try not to worry about the future and I know God has Matthew in his hands but the human side of me does worry. Dr. Hasselman told us that he thinks Matthew will finish school and go on to have a job and a pretty normal life. Matthew won't be a long distance runner or have the stamina to be the the best athlete but he will be able to play some sports and do all the things boys love to do. He said that he's not going to hold back but we need to realize this surgery won't be Matthew's last one. He will likely have problems as he gets older and there will be some issues that will need to be addressed as we go. Hopefully none of these issues happen for a decade/decades. As far as his life span, he wouldn't speculate but it was nice to hear that he sees Matthew getting a job and living a pretty normal life.


We have high hopes for Matthew and we are expecting to grow old and watch him grow old too! He will always be our miracle child who stole our hearts from Day 1. We are going to cherish everyday and love him as much as we possibly can. We can't wait to see what amazing things God is going to do with him.



All in all it was a great visit. Was I ready to hear it's time for the next surgery? No! I never will be ready for it but it's our reality and I know God will give me the strength to get through this one just like he did the first two.

I hope this isn't too negative because I really do feel blessed and believe it is an amazing privilege to be Matthew's mother!!!