Catherine Update

A week ago today we went to the Pediatric Cardiologist. We were given good news and some not so good news. The doctor we saw was Dr. Dungan. He is literally 80 years old. He is the nicest man and very funny. Catherine's appointment was at 11:00 and we didn't get home until 3:00. When we checked in the lady at the front desk was asking a list of questions. She asked, "Does the father live in the home"? I replied, "Yes." Then she asked, "Are mom and dad married"? I then said, "Listen, I don't know what other questions you are going to ask. And, I know it takes all kinds, but we're the other kind." She started laughing so hard I thought she was going to fall out of her chair. My way of handling the day was with humor. I started cracking jokes with the EKG tech and Johnny started to get a little annoyed with me. He wanted the tech to focus on his job and Catherine, not on the next line I was coming up with, which he was right. Anyways, Catherine was extremely well behaved, would you expect anything less from my child? No seriously, Dr. Dungan asked, "Is she always this good"? I responded with, "This is because of a lot of prayers." Which is the truth. We could feel the power of God's strength all day. I sat at home during her nap that morning and just read my Bible and prayed. I have not felt God's clarity like that in a long time. Even though we got the news we got, I still felt a peace, which is totally God! Thank you to all who have had us in their thoughts and prayers. It has definitely been and will continue to be a growth experience.

Catherine has a 7 mm hole in her Atrial Septum. It is called an Atrial Septul Defect. If you go to the American Heart Association website you can learn more about the surgery and the defect at http://www.americanheart.org/ . This is otherwise known as a "hole" in her heart. The size of the hole is of medium size. It is bigger than a pencil eraser, but smaller than a dime to give you an image. Therefore, it will not close on its own. They will have to go in a repair the hole when she is around the age of 4 years old. They will do this with a catheter procedure. They will implant a mesh accordion like material in the hole that will expand to cover the hole. Heart tissue and scar tissue will then grow over it and secure it permanently in place. This should be the only surgery/procedure she should ever have to fix the problem. She will only stay in the hospital 1 night, and in 4 years it may be outpatient who knows? Our Arkansas Children's Hospital was the 2nd hospital in the nation to perform this procedure! However, just 7 years ago this was an open heart surgery procedure. If she does not have the hole repaired her life expectancy is to age 30. The doctors will monitor her once a year until time for the procedure with an office visit and annual tests to make sure the hole is not getting larger and there are no other complications. They have reassured us that Catherine is normal and should be treated as if she were a normal child without any type of condition. We are surprisingly very calm about the situation and making a long list of questions to call and ask the nurse practitioner. If there are any suggested questions to ask, please let us know!