Gideon's Medical Checkup
This morning we were off bright and early to see the doctor. We weren't sure what to expect or how long it would take so I wasn't as prepared as I should be. Gideon's adoption has thrown me for a loop. With Hyrum and Bria I was always prepared with food, diapers and water. Now, I forget one or the other most of the time. Poor Gideon (and Mom) were up until 3:00 am.. Because of the lack of sleep, Gideon was an angry bear. I didn't even have food and water to appease him. This made things a little difficult when we had to do x-rays, the echo and EKG. Thankfully we got through it with all the information necessary.
The doctor is pleased with Gideon's recovery and said he has flown through it. He did warn us that there are still possibilities of complications but they are not very likely considering how well he has done so far. We asked some very blunt questions and got clear answers on what to expect from here. The surgery that Gideon had did not close any doors for future options fixing his heart. We may still be able to go in and repair his VSD which means putting a patch in the lower portion of his heart to divide it into two chambers. With that they would need to shunt his Aorta into the correct Atria, or upper portion of his heart. At this point there is not a surgeon that wants to do it but that could change. The other option would be to do the Fontan surgery as planned. If the Fontan is done the doctor estimates his life expectancy to be 17 years. At that point he would need a heart transplant. Transplants are good for 10 years on average.The repair however, would increase his life by 10 years over the Fontan but it would be very risky to do. The full repair was not an option this go around because of how fragile Gideon was at the time.
All of this is in the future and we were instructed to live life. There is nothing that can be done to make things better right now. Gideon will continue to turn blue here and there but that is OK. The reason he still turns blue is because there are no oxygen reserves so when his body is under stress he requires more oxygen. This doesn't mean he will be blue whenever he's is stressed just once in a while. Gideon has no limitations outside of our not turning him upside down. He may even get off one of his medications in 6 weeks at our next appointment.
On a side note, we started getting statements from our insurance. It looks like the operation and hospital stay will only be about $50,000. Not bad compared to what we expected. Maybe our insurance rates won't go up too high next year.
The reality is setting in a little more deeply. It's time to stop accomplishing things and add more fun to life. We want to make more memories and spend more time together emotionally not just physically. None of us know the day or the hour when our work is done on this Earth. Because of that we tend to take life for granted. I don't want to do that anymore. The only thing we take with us in death is our relationships. Relationships with God, family, friends and self. This will be hard to retrain my thoughts and ideas from filling my day with responsibilities that need doing to slowing down to love and cherish all in my circles. The Lord has much he wants to teach me. Hopefully I will be clay in His hands.
The doctor is pleased with Gideon's recovery and said he has flown through it. He did warn us that there are still possibilities of complications but they are not very likely considering how well he has done so far. We asked some very blunt questions and got clear answers on what to expect from here. The surgery that Gideon had did not close any doors for future options fixing his heart. We may still be able to go in and repair his VSD which means putting a patch in the lower portion of his heart to divide it into two chambers. With that they would need to shunt his Aorta into the correct Atria, or upper portion of his heart. At this point there is not a surgeon that wants to do it but that could change. The other option would be to do the Fontan surgery as planned. If the Fontan is done the doctor estimates his life expectancy to be 17 years. At that point he would need a heart transplant. Transplants are good for 10 years on average.The repair however, would increase his life by 10 years over the Fontan but it would be very risky to do. The full repair was not an option this go around because of how fragile Gideon was at the time.
All of this is in the future and we were instructed to live life. There is nothing that can be done to make things better right now. Gideon will continue to turn blue here and there but that is OK. The reason he still turns blue is because there are no oxygen reserves so when his body is under stress he requires more oxygen. This doesn't mean he will be blue whenever he's is stressed just once in a while. Gideon has no limitations outside of our not turning him upside down. He may even get off one of his medications in 6 weeks at our next appointment.
On a side note, we started getting statements from our insurance. It looks like the operation and hospital stay will only be about $50,000. Not bad compared to what we expected. Maybe our insurance rates won't go up too high next year.
The reality is setting in a little more deeply. It's time to stop accomplishing things and add more fun to life. We want to make more memories and spend more time together emotionally not just physically. None of us know the day or the hour when our work is done on this Earth. Because of that we tend to take life for granted. I don't want to do that anymore. The only thing we take with us in death is our relationships. Relationships with God, family, friends and self. This will be hard to retrain my thoughts and ideas from filling my day with responsibilities that need doing to slowing down to love and cherish all in my circles. The Lord has much he wants to teach me. Hopefully I will be clay in His hands.
Jared has VSD.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear things are going well. He is a doll, can't wait to meet him.