Thursday, January 19, 2012

A "Boring Heart"

F had her cardiology follow up appointment today, and was pronounced totally healthy and "boring". If there's ever a good time to be boring, this would be it. 

In slightly more detail, today's ECG and ECHO were both normal. With those results, plus no evidence of SVT since 34 weeks gestation, there's no need for ongoing follow up with the cardiologists. 

We'll still be doing fairly regular stethoscope checks until she's about 6 months old, and keeping an eye out for SVT in the future. Apparently, if she goes into SVT, we'll notice. Interestingly, the next danger period after infancy is puberty. 

The cardiologist mentioned that the real danger with SVT in children occurs when it's not picked up early enough. The child seems generally unwell but if there's no known history of heart issues the arrhythmia goes undetected long enough to damage the heart structure. With F, I suspect her heart rate will be among the first things we'll check any time she's not herself, so we'll be in a good position to deal with it. 

We also took the opportunity to drop in at the ultrasound department and the antenatal ward, to show the staff the fruit of their labours (ie a healthy baby). It was lovely to go back, and our wonderful staff specialist sonographer was particularly pleased to see the amazing outcome in person. I vividly remember that horrible first appointment when gave us the bad news, and I suspect he does too. Once again, we marvel at the grace of God. 

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