A Great Checkup!

We had a very good appointment with YouYou's cardiologist yesterday. In fact it was the first time I have left his office feeling better about things than when we went in (and that has nothing to do with Dr. Romp's personality or anything, it's everything to do with the seriousness of her condition)! Not only had YouYou gained a pound and a half, the Dr. said that her right ventricle was pumping SO MUCH better than he had ever seen it pump, her left ventricle looked good also, her valves seemed to be leaking less (which means the medicine she is on is working), her liver and heart were no longer enlarged, AND HE ONLY SAW TWO VSD'S (holes in her heart)!!!! I'm praising God for this good report!!! We are still scheduled to have a heart cath on June 11 but Dr. Romp said he expects that the cath will confirm what he thinks he is seeing in the echo...which is basically that her heart is functioning well right now. I think if she did not already have some damage to her lungs from the pulmonary hypertension he would not even worry about us having the heart cath. But he is trying to protect her lungs from further damage and the only way to be certain that she does not need any further surgeries right now is to get the kind of information that the cath will provide.

Thank you Father for your work of healing in YouYou's heart.

YouYou has wanted to get her hair cut since she saw her big brother get his cut a few weeks ago. I'm letting her bangs grow out so it was time to trim the ends of hers a bit - and she couldn't have been happier. She kept saying "YouYou geh hair-ee cut", which means YouYou is getting a hair cut :)

We'll be going to B'ham on Tuesday for an appointment with the cardiologist. I'll update once we get home. Happy Memorial Day!

Nachos

This is what I do while my brothers play t-ball...

100 Days

You You has officially been in our family now for 100 days!! I took this picture of her today. Isn't she a little cutie patootie?!!

FYI...we had to reschedule her heart cath procedure because we had a conflict. The new date is June 11 and because we are putting it off a few more weeks we will be visiting her cardiologist on May 26th for a post op visit. Thank you all for your prayers!

Flexibility

I think she is looking pretty good for six weeks post open heart surgery...

Cardiologist check-up

YouYou's first check-up with the cardiologist was on Monday of this week. I'm so thankful that she is such a good car rider since we will be making so many trips to B'ham :) She did great and was not scared at all, but she was a little more "active" during the echo (kind of like an ultrasound) than she was the first time we visited Dr. Romp (this was the time she laid still for at least 20 minutes).

Overall Dr. Romp was very pleased with how YouYou is recovering. Her incision is healing well and her appetite has increased. There are 2 areas of concern at this point though, the leakiness in the mitral and tricuspid valves and the small VSD's (holes) that have appeared since surgery. I have been told it is not highly uncommon for these holes to appear around the patch in VSD's as large as hers, but I still don't like it :( She is on medication that in time will hopefully help decrease the leakiness in the valves, and the Dr. said he "might" be seeing some small improvement since her last echo (but he wants to see more). The not so good part is that because of her type of transposition the Dr.'s cannot really tell the size of the holes through an echo. So...we are scheduled for another heart cath on May 21st (to determine whether or not they see a need for YouYou to undergo another sugery). I asked Dr. Romp if I should just try to get used to the idea of frequent heart cath's in our future, and he said we shouldn't be needing to do them every few months but it is something she will have done more than other children because of her uniquely formed heart.

What does this mean?? Well, this means I'm asking God for a miracle. I'm asking and believing that if it is His will that these holes will either be tee-tiny non problematic holes or that they will be gone entirely! I know God can do this, and I also know that He might choose not to...regardless though I will pray and I will trust Him. Will you join me?

Pictures...scroll down to see a happy YouYou

In CICU, one day after surgery...

Taken Saturday, 4 days after surgery...

The swelling was really bad at this point...


Could she be any more pitiful? She loved this bunny though...

Trying to have fun in the halls...

Me, YouYou, and Libby, taken on Wednesday right before we left for the first time...

Roz, and Ruth...2 of the sweet nurses who took care of YouYou on the floor...

Taken on Saturday of our second visit. YouYou was starting to look and feel better after they got rid of all that extra fluid. She chowed down on some noodles and chicken right after you left Bert, Tina and Sophie! Notice the shoulder..she insisted on wearing her gown like that that evening.

Yummy, yummy...

Messy but happy YouYou...

YouYou giving mommy some back pounding therapy...

Taken yesterday afternoon...at HOME!!! Connie, she loves the crown and sunglasses...thank you!

Kissy lips...

Taken at bedtime tonight...she was so happy today.

Sitting in her big girl bed, which she does not sleep in yet. Thank you for praying for me!!!!!