Wait

I spoke with our cardiologist at SickKids this afternoon.  The imaging confirmed that Josiah's upper pulmonary veins are less narrowed than his lower ones.  Both of the lower veins are significantly narrowed due to compression by the heart, especially from the atria (the receiving chamber) which are very big.  Part or all of the reason that the atria are so large is due to the moderate to severe leakage of Josiah's main heart valve.  Blood leaks backward into the atria which means they accommodate a higher volume of blood and are therefore very large. 

In the discussion on Monday, all of the doctors felt that anything surgical would be too risky for Josiah at this time.  Fixing the valve is not easy and combining it with fixing the veins is a very high risk surgery.  So, the consensus is to wait. 

The good news is that there is only mild narrowing on the shunt so they do not want to stent it now. 

They could tell from measuring the gradient across the shunt that the pressures in Josiah's lungs are still very high.  We need these to decrease, somehow. 

I asked how long his shunt would be large enough for his body (assuming it doesn't narrow further) and he thought it would probably be fine until around three years of age.  If I understood correctly, getting older and larger somewhat decreases the risk of surgery. 

It was suggested that we have Josiah reevaluated again with an echo and CT Scan in six months and if there are changes then the team can revisit possible options.  Six months takes us to December. 

It was a little disappointing to hear that there are no medical options right now.  We'll keep praying for miracles.

We had a good day today.  I had a little bit of solo time with the boys this morning and it went well. 

Thanks so much for your prayers!  Josiah is 14 months old today - we praise God for Josiah!

Oh yes, other great news - so far so good with the Pediasure!  Thank You Lord!

Blessings,

Elizabeth 

Proverbs 13:12
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.