Wednesday Teagan had an appointment with the dietician and then with the cardiologist. The good news from the dietician is that she now weighs 10lbs 12oz! -and is in the 10th percentile for her age!! I finally feel like we might actually make it to 12lbs before her upcoming surgery! The dietician agreed that we don't need to make any changes right now as long as she keeps gaining which is nice to hear! It always seems like when we mess with her calories/oz Teagan gets upset!
The cardiology appt. didn't go quite as well as I had expected. I know that as Teagan gains weight and gets older she will start to show signs that she needs the next surgery, but its never something you want to see in your baby! The cardiologist we saw was Dr. Toews (pronounced 'Taves') This was our first visit with him and the 3rd cardiologist we've seen at the Tri-Cities clinic since they're on a rotating schedule. They performed an echo and he examined/listened to Teagan. She has been looking pale more lately and sweating more when she eats so I was concerned about how her echo would look. Dr. Toews said that her tri-cuspid valve is leaking now and it looks like her heart is working a little harder than they would like. He thinks that she has outgrown her dose of Captopril and so he upped it to 2mls 3x/day. He also felt like her liver might be a little congested possibly because she has outgrown her dose of lasix. So he upped that to .6ml 2x/day. The dr. said that these are signs of 'failure' (meaning heart failure, something they never seem to fully explain!) and hopefully these new med doses will help with those issues. I'm supposed to take Teagan in for blood work and then go back to see him in 2 weeks to check on everything. I'm assuming that we'll talk about a cath date at the next appt. I want to know dates to badly so I can begin to plan for the next few months! But I don't think that they really know much more than a few weeks in advance!
One other thing that I discussed with Dr. Toews was my concern about having Gavin checked for any heart defects. He'll be 3 in Sept. and hasn't shown any signs of problems but sometimes I notice that he tires quickly and seems pale. The dr. told me that he was 100% sure that defects like Teagans aren't just a fluke but are genetic and he wouldn't be surprised if Gavin did have some sort of very minor defect! No one has ever said this to us before, and I was completely shocked to hear that! Everyone at Children's hospital always told us that it could be genetic but that it was probably just a fluke. Especially since our family doesn't have a history of CHD. Anway, at Teagan's appointment in 2 weeks I'm supposed to bring Gavin in so that the dr. can listen to him. If he hears anything unusual then they will do an echo. I was watching Gav a little more closely today but of course he seems totally fine like usual. I even got out the stethoscope and listened to him (not like I would hear anything anyway!) but he sounded normal and it made me feel a little better! I'm just praying that its just me being paranoid and that everything checks out ok with him!
I had her pediatrician prescribe a more appropriate dose of her ranitadine yesterday (zantac for reflux) now that she's gained weight and it seems to be helping with her eating. She's had a better eating day today than she has in a long time! She's also seemed happier this evening!
My mom left today after a week and a half visit and I had sort of a crazy evening readjusting to no help! I'm looking forward to a (hopefully) quiet weekend at home!
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What an accomplishment! She has come such a long way, thanks to answered prayer & the great care you're giving her. We printed the last pics of Teagan in her princess dress & gave some to Great grandma Barker, they loved them. I put one in a frame & put it were I can see her every day & remember to keep praying for her & you all. Thanks for the updates,Love to you all, Aunt Karen
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