Joanna's Heart

Matt, Joanna, and I went down to Texas Children's today for Joanna's cardio eval. appt. We had a chest x-ray and an EKG done on July 13th, but today we got to actually meet with a doctor. Dr. Nihill had read the tests and he examined Joanna today. He said that there is a small hole between the ventricles in her heart that is causing the murmur. He wasn't concerned, and said that in most cases the hole will close up on its own in the next few years. It doesn't appear to be causing her distress, and her heart isn't having to work harder than it should because of the hole. We are going back in November for an Echo and to meet with Dr. Nihill again. He wants to see a better picture of where exactly the hole is (holes in some locations are more likely to close up on their own than others, apparantly). We didn't talk surgery or anything. I got the impression that even if the hole doesn't close up on its own, it won't cause her any problems. He showed us on a little heart picture where the hole probably is and what it's doing to the blood flow. I took a picture of the diagram for you:

So, Jessica's version of the technical jargon is that the ventricle on one side of the hole has more pressure that the ventricle on the other side of the hole, so the blood flows from the high pressured chamber into the lower pressured chamber in addition to where it's supposed to go. Got it? It's called a VSD, and Joanna's is very small. Yea.

Joanna and Daddy in the waiting room before the appointment.

Joanna getting her blood pressure taken. It's such a cute little cuff! The PCA (Patient Care Assisstant), Rubi, took Joanna's BP on her arm and her leg. They're different, just so you know. Other stats: Joanna is 11lbs and 24 inches long. Her resting pulse was 126.

It took us no time at all to get down there this morning, which is really good because it took about an hour to find a place to park. We had to drive completely through 2 garages to find a spot. I wouldn't have thought that 9:30 on a Wednesday is a full-garage kind of time. I was wrong. With each visit, though, I am becoming more and more knowledgeable about the medical center, especially since I haven't actually gotten anywhere yet without having to turn around at least once.

After the visit, we decided to hit Rice Village for a little shopping. Daddy and Joanna on the way to A Woman's Work.