Willem had his pediatric cardiologist appointment today and his heart is perfect!
I've been worried. Willem's medical file from China said he had a PDA (Patent ductus arteriosus) that had closed on its own. But, when we did his medical exam in China they could definitely hear a murmur. They had 3 doctors listen, and they told me he does have a murmur. When we got home, Willem's pediatrician could also hear a murmur, so we made an appointment with our (Brynlee's) pediatric cardiologist at Children's and today was the day.
The doctor listened and listened to Willem's heart and said he doesn't think that he has anything wrong, but that sometimes clubfoot kids do also have a hole in their heart so he would do an Echocardiogram (ECHO).
I was a little worried about bringing him to another doctor as he is not super fond of doctors right now. I wasn't sure if he would cooperate or not. But he did great! Brynlee also had her checkup there today and he got to watch her have her blood pressure taken and so was all excited for his turn. He also saw when the doctor came in and listened to her heart and Brynlee didn't cry or complain, so he was fine with that too when it was his turn.
When we went to the ECHO room and I laid him down he looked a bit worried, especially when she started putting the sticky on his tummy. Plus, that bed looked awfully lots like the club foot bed where he gets his new casts on. But when I told him no owies and he gets special stickers on his tummy, he was ok. Then he laid there like a pro as she did the ECHO. She was very impressed with him. So was I!
After the doctor had a chance to look at the pictures from the ECHO he came back and told us the wonderful news that Willem's heart is perfect! The murmur (yes there is one), is called a 'Flow Murmur'. It just means that the blood passing through the heart makes a noise as it flows through the chambers of the heart, but there is no heart structural abnormality. It is simply the sound of normal blood flow moving through a normal heart. Not everyone has a heart murmur, so why do some people have them? It's not known why some do and some don't.
Even though he is so healthy and nothing slows him down, it was a worry, hearing from 4 doctors that he has a murmur. Thank You! Thank You!
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And now about Brynlee. Brynlee was at Children's 2 years ago for her last heart check so she was due for her checkup. This time she didn't have an ECHO or EKG. The wonderful doctor just listened and listened to her heart. He said (as her pediatrician says) that she still does have a VSD, but a very tiny VSD. He was very pleased with her health, and physical activity and said he has no worries for her. There are no restrictions and she can come back in 2 or 3 years. Yaaayyy!!
So we had a day filled with good news!
