13 April 2012

Born with a broken heart.

You may have noticed in my last post (or you may not have since I just posted it two minutes ago and you probably haven't read it yet) that Ez Bug had his first appointment with a pediatric cardiologist in New York. And you probably thought, "I didn't even know Ezra had a heart problem." (Or you may not have. I'm assuming a lot of things right now.)
Well, you see, Ez was born with a broken heart. Sounds really tragic, huh?

When we were still in the hospital, his pediatrician heard a heart murmur. They did an echocardiogram (IDK how to spell it and don't want to look it up...it's an ultrasound of your heart) and sent it to a ped card (I just made up that abbreviation...it probably isn't used in the medical world). We met with Dr. Ghazali two days before we moved to Rochester. He basically told me Ez was fine for now, but stressed that he would need a ped card appointment ASAP once we got to New York. And he kept referring to Ezra as "my friend" in the sweetest Indian accent you could ever hear, and kept telling me that knowledge dispels fear.

But anyway.

We got to Rochester and because of insurance and office complications weren't able to get Ez an appointment until a couple of weeks ago.
Ez performed like a champ at his last appointment. He handled his echo and EKG without crying, but was not happy to be stripped down to nothing to be weighed.

THIS IS WHAT'S WRONG WITH EZRA'S HEART: His aortic valve (the one that pumps red blood to his body) is deformed. It has two flaps instead of three which does not allow for optimum blood flow. Eventually, it will restrict the blood flow so badly that he will have to have surgery. We don't know when this could happen.
The good news: His heart is good right now! We don't have another appointment for six months. Also, this is nothing that could happen suddenly. Meaning as long as we take him to the ped card regularly, there is nothing we have to immediately worry about or watch out for.
The bad news: He will have to see a cardiologist all his life. This really isn't so bad. It's mostly sad for mama because it breaks her heart to see him have stickies and wires all over him.
His ped card said it likely wouldn't be a problem while he was a baby, but she couldn't say anything for when he's a child.

Honestly, we are very grateful it isn't something worse and that we live in a time and place where he can get the medical care and attention he needs. And learning about his little heart condition has helped us to be less afraid.
Tender mercies.

4 comments:

  1. So sorry! I'm glad to hear it is nothing immediately serious. It is a hard thing for a mama to bear. I'm sitting the hospital right now while my son is in surgery. I'm glad Ezra is doing well for now!

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  2. Poor little Ez. Thankfully he has such awesome, loving parents!

    I'm always so impressed with you as a mommy. Ez is such a lucky boy!

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  3. i am so glad he is okay! i was pretty worried when i read the title to this post! you and jeff are such incredible parents and, like katie said, ezra is so lucky to have you both!

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  4. I'm glad lil' Ezra's okay. We love you guys (:

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