6 month heart check up

June brought our six month cardiology appointment & I went into it feeling the least anxious of any of her previous cardiology appointments....that will teach me!

She had her echo & I saw the velocities, they have been in the 400's for a while.  I didn't catch the pressure gradients, but to my limited view everything seemed about the same as it has at other appointments.

After the echo she had the EKG - her favorite part of course is making spiderman string out of the goo!!

Then Dr. Hasselman came in.  He completely took me off guard when he said we were teetering on needing her valve ballooned.  What - come again?!  I thought since she probably has a three leaf valve, that ballooning was not even an option - guess I was wrong.

After some discussion about how well she is doing & the fact that she had similar high gradients in the past (just not quite this high), he went and spoke with his partner.  When he came back he said they were both comfortable in recommending that we go ahead and wait and check again in six months.

I completely expected this to be another - come back in six months - no real change.  And in all reality - that is what was said in the end, but the fact that she continues to push closer and closer to needing the balloon (which only buys us up to two years before needing a valve replacement) brought home the delicate balance that she exists in.  She does so incredibly well that I often forget that we have a ticking time bomb in her chest.  Those reality checks make it seem more real.

On the plus side, last year he told us she couldn't do any "competitive" sports, this year he said it was ok, as long as she took lots of breaks and that we watch for the red flags that we are to watch for (chest pain & fainting being the most concerning).

At the end of the day, it's all in God's hands anyway & at this point we are thankful for another 6 months before we have to have these discussions again.