Good (Amelia) News

Amelia's second post-surgery follow-up appointment was last Monday.

Height, weight, blood pressure, and EKG were first.  Her height and weight alone were good indicators of how well she has recovered.  In the four weeks since her last appointment, she grew an inch and gained two pounds, putting her at 3'10" (99th percentile) and 49 pounds (95th percentile)!  Additionally, her blood pressure was normal and her EKG results were great, with p-waves "all over the place," according to her cardiologist.

The examination part of the appointment followed the data-collection part.  Amelia's cardiologist said that her scar looked good, but that we will have to be careful to keep it covered up as the weather gets warmer and sunnier, so that it doesn't darken.  In addition to looking good, things sounded good, too: post-surgery, Amelia's cardiology team could still hear what they were calling a "flow murmur," but it couldn't be heard on Monday.  

After meeting with the cardiologist it was time for another echo -- always the longest part of an appointment!  Definitely Amelia's favorite part, though, because she gets to watch TV... So she got to watch The Bee Movie while the sonographer clicked away, capturing image after image of her heart.  He got some great pictures, including several showing the actual repair in her heart.  We got a print-out of one to take with us:

See that bright half-circle on the upper right?  That's the repair!

More good news after the cardiologist examined the pictures: The pressure gradient in Amelia's SVC (at a 3-4 in the hospital and then a 7 at her first follow-up) was down to a 2!  This could be due to two different things: (1) there isn't as much narrowing of the SVC as we thought there might be, or (2) additional veins have opened up to help with drainage and have taken over part of the function of the SVC.  Either way, it's a good thing!

Amelia's next follow-up appointment has been scheduled for June.  In the meantime, she has to be on iron for about two more months.  The doctors aren't worried about the anemia, since it was caused only by the surgery itself, and are expecting that everything will be normal by then.  The only other continued effect of the surgery?  Amelia has to be on prophylactic antibiotics before dentist's appointments.  No big deal!

The last line of the summary report from Amelia's appointment is particularly fitting, given her activity level as of late: "There are no restrictions or limitations."  Hoping that this statement is true for years to come!

And if this wasn't enough good news for one week, we got some more happy, Amelia-related news yesterday.  She won the (literal, Boston Public Schools) lottery and will be attending kindergarten at the excellent school two and a half blocks away from our house.

For those of you thinking, "well, obviously..." let me fill you in on the craziness that is (or WAS -- it will change next year) the school assignment system for BPS.

BPS is divided into three zones.  There are roughly thirty schools in our zone, some about a 45-minute bus ride away.  Additionally, everyone has a "walk zone" within their zone, which includes all schools within a mile radius of your house.  We have three walk zone schools.  Instead of just attending the school closest to them, kids in the BPS system are entered into a lottery to determine which school they will attend.  When assigning children to schools, half of the spots at a given school are reserved for kids within the walk zone (minus the spots taken by siblings of current students).  The other half of the spots can go to any child within the larger zone (although walk zone kids can be considered for these spots, as well).  

In January, you begin the registration process for your future-kindergartner, bringing numerous documents to prove that you live in Boston.  You also bring a list in which you have ranked the schools in your "zone," from first choice to last.  After the first round of registration closes, everyone's preferences are run through a computer system, and children are matched with schools.  If everyone just ranked the schools closest to them, it would be no big deal.  But because some schools are better than others, or have special/desired programs, it doesn't work that way.  And, of course, we happen to live near three really great elementary schools, so getting into them can be kind of competitive.

Anyway, we ranked only four schools in our zone: our three walk zone schools, and one near-ish to my office downtown. (We figured that if Amelia didn't get into one of those, we would put her into private school or move to the suburbs... I definitely wasn't going to put my five-year-old on a bus to Dorchester every morning!)  As luck would have it, we got our first choice: A wonderful school that is literally just two and a half blocks from our house.  So -- BIG sigh of relief around here!

Assignment letter and mailing back the confirmation of attendance!

And that was our week!  Hope that you all enjoyed something green this St. Patrick's Day.  I leave you with a photo of our three little leprechauns...

Only 1/16th Irish, but enjoying the holiday, anyway!

New Month, Old Routine

Friday was Amelia's first day back to school.

Just three and a half weeks post surgery!  (The resiliency of kids is AMAZING.)

Amelia's scar, three weeks post-surgery.  Not bad, right?

She actually was cleared to go back a week and a half earlier, but the week before last was school vacation week in these parts, so we didn't have to decide whether or not to send her.  Instead, she and Ramona were both at home every day, enjoying their last week with Nonna (my mom) before she headed back to Colorado.

All kinds of fun with Nonna!

Then we contemplated sending her earlier last week, but ultimately decided Friday would be the ideal first day back: just one day before the weekend, plus only about half of her class attends on Fridays, making it a lower-key day.

Amelia back at school -- having a patriotic snack

Amelia's teachers said that she had a great day.  Everyone was happy to have her back, and she was thrilled to be there again.

So things are back to normal around here!  Amelia's next follow-up appointment is March 11.  We'll make sure to let you know how it goes.

More Hearts!

We had another heart-themed week around here, between Amelia's first post-surgery follow-up appointment with the cardiologist and Valentine's Day.

On Wednesday morning, Chad and I took Amelia back to MGH for her appointment.  First things first: height, weight, blood pressure... and a 12-lead EKG, no big deal.  (How things have changed since her first EKG, which she completely flipped out about!  This time around, she even helped take off the leads and stickers afterward.)  Then we met with the cardiologist, who inspected Amelia's incision (which is healing wonderfully) and removed the one stitch from where her chest tube had been placed.  Next up was the echo, which was the most time-consuming part.  Amelia did a great job, holding nice and still (thanks to Sesame Street) and taking deep breaths when asked.  After they had all of the pictures they needed, we spoke with the cardiologist again.

Amelia showing off a picture of her heart -- all repaired!

The good news: there was no pericardial effusion (fluid around the heart) at all, which means that we have been able to start weaning her off of her diuretic.  The not-so-great-but-not-entirely-unexpected news: the pressure gradient in the SVC, which is what indicates the amount of stenosis (narrowing) that there is, had gone up.  The number had been a 3 and then a 4 in the hospital, and was a 7 at her follow-up appointment, moving her stenosis from the mild to the moderate category.  The number could still go down, but even if it doesn't, it's not a problem so long as Amelia has no other symptoms.  So for now we wait and see, watching for headaches, facial swelling, or protruding veins in her neck.  And if it's necessary, they will place a stent in the SVC to augment it.

All in all, Amelia is recovering wonderfully.  She has another appointment in three weeks to make sure that everything continues to heal.

Thank you, again, for sending out thoughts and prayers -- and cards, and toys, and food... We've had a tough couple of weeks, but this whole process has been so much easier than it could have been, thanks to the support of our wonderful family and friends.

Wishing each and every one of you a happy belated Valentine's Day!

Our sweet little valentines!