Update on Middle Man...

On Friday we went and saw Dr. Brumund. He ended up doing an EKG, echo and checking Christopher's O2 saturation levels. Christopher's pulmonary valve and tricuspid valve are still leaking and stenosed, but not significantly different from his last visit. Dr. Brumund does not think that is what is causing Christopher to be so exhausted. His O2 levels were lower than they've ever been since his surgery and his heart rate was significantly higher than it has been so he was sent home with a monitor to check for rhythm issues. We'll have those results later this week. I had mentioned how Christopher is still not sleeping through the night and waking up a lot! Dr. Brumund sent us to the Pediatric Pulunologist for him to check for sleep apnea.

Today Christopher and I met with the Pediatric Pulumologist and he said that Christopher does have sleep apnea. There could be many things causing it so we are going to do an overnight sleep study at their office to try and determine the cause. He mentioned that it could be something as minor as reflux...and we ALL remember Christopher's problems with reflux!!! It could also be heart related...we have a higher chance in that aspect too!! He also mentioned that it could be neurological. They'll place all kinds of wires on him and watch him sleep all night. Wow, what a fun job to watch people sleep in the middle of the night! :)

The Pediatric Pulmunologist also diagnosed him as having asthma. He explained that when they broke his sternum to get into the heart it could have messed up his tracheal tube and with his previous reflux problems on top of that it could be causing the asthma. I haven't had a chance to google asthma so I am really clueless what it is...but from what this Dr. said it is not anything too serious. It may affect him playing sports, but we are already limited in that area because of his heart. We were sent home with quite a few medicines that he'll be on for at least a year. He did mention that it is a chronic disease and we will have to visit him regularly for it to be monitored. We saw Dr. Thomas, he spoke on my level and explained everything in layman's terms. I really liked him and I'm glad to have another good doctor on our "team".

Since Christopher has been so puny we haven't been doing to much. Yesterday afternoon we were going to do touristy stuff downtown. We started with the USS Kidd. The boys loved it. By the time we were finished there, Christopher was too tired to walk around downtown so we just headed to Dearman's (the BEST burgers in the world!!) and then headed home for naps. Here are a few pictures.

Cardiac Christopher is back!

David, Andrew, Jacob and Bailey (Christopher would not get out of stroller)

Since we had a "cold" front come through this past weekend, we decided to take advantage of the 87 degree weather! Brad and I brought the boys to the New Orleans zoo on Sunday afternoon. We met Brad's sister-in-law and her sons. Her sons are close in age to mine and love hanging out together. We checked out all of the animals!

David and Jacob

For the past couple of months, we've been noticing a decrease in Christopher's activity levels. On Sunday, he did not even want to get out of the stroller to walk around the zoo! That is not like Christopher. Later that evening, I was looking for him and found him asleep in the middle of my bedroom floor. On Tuesday, his teacher mentioned again that he was resting a lot more than normal and more than he was playing. That afternoon I called to set up an appointment for Dr. Brumund, the pediatric cardiologist. As my luck would have it he was working in the Hammond and Lafayette offices later this week and the day he was in the Baton Rouge office he was booked. So why not just wait until next week...I would have, but he is on vacation next week!! I went ahead and made an appointment to see the pediatrician since she has a daughter that has the same disease as Christopher and could advise us if she thinks we should see another cardiologist in Dr. B's office or if we could wait until after he is back from vacation. We went to see her yesterday and she ran all kinds of test on him just to see if maybe something else was making him tired. She did blood counts, flu and mono tests and they all came back normal. She thought we should see the cardiologist sooner than later...so she called Dr. B and he is going to meet us this afternoon in the Baton Rouge office after he finishes at the Lafayette office. He is so awesome! We are thankful to have such a great team of doctors! I am anxious to see what he says! I'll update later....

Happy 4th of July!

After that last post from the heart conference, I probably should update you after a few e-mails I got...I am OK!! :) I just have sad days sometime and I chose that night to share it with y'all. Sorry to be so depressing. I am feeling happier now and we went to the "Happy House" (that is what G'ami named the Beach House) for the Fourth of July so I am back to a happier mode.

We went to Destin for the Fourth of July weekend. The kids had a great time. I mentioned this when we returned from the mountains last month, but it is amazing how much easier it is to travel with the kids since they are a little older so we are taking advantage of it this summer! Brad ended up coming home a few days earlier than I did, so I actually drove home with the three kiddos solo...and it was not bad at all! Jacob is able to walk (even though he still wants to "hold you me") and is getting much better about following directions not running away. We are still working on quiet voices though, especially in the car! They can get a bit loud and rambunctious! We have had a fun summer so far and this past week was no exception!

We headed to Destin last Thursday, along with the rest of the country. The traffic was pretty heavy and what usually is a five hour drive ended up taking much longer with potty stops, dinner and traffic! We arrived late and the kids didn't get to bed until midnight. We don't usually go by a strict schedule, but they are always in bed before midnight (usually around nine)...except last week! Jacob and Christopher loved playing in the sand. I tried to help them build sand castles, but I was about as much help as another three year old. David brought his boogie board and was pretty good at it. He would go out and ride the waves back in to the beach. It looked like a lot of fun so I made an attempt at it...it is not easy! Thankfully I don't have the video to prove it!!

On Saturday night (the 4th of July) we ended up grilling and then heading down to the beach for fireworks. Brad's brother's family and his parents were there too. It was nice to have the entire family together...even though with five little boys it got a little rowdy...ok maybe a LOT rowdy!

It was a nice week away from home and I really enjoyed the opportunity to take an afternoon nap each day! Now back to summer reality of heat with no beach, chauffeuring kids around, t-ball and no naps! :)

Creating Cupcakes with the Kiddies!