Monday, November 03, 2008

November 3, 2008

Hi everyone - well, we just got back from the hospital, and I'm SO pleased to report that everything is going brilliantly for Charlie! His oxygen saturations were 82%, which is amazing, particularly bearing in mind that it's a very cold day, and he has a horrible stuffy cold. (Anyone who was checking the blog earlier this morning might have noticed that I updated the Twitter in the sidebar when we heard what his sats were - I do like being able to update on the go! Especially when I know people are checking in to find out the news!)
Charlie is growing really well, and as far as his heart is concerned, the function of his single right ventricle is excellent, and the leakage across his tricuspid valve is still trivial. Clinically, he is showing no signs of needing his Fontan surgery in the imminent future... in fact, we've been given our next appointment for six months down the line, so I'd guess it won't be happening at least until then. In general, the doctors were all over the moon with how well Charlie's doing - his energy levels are so high, which is apparently a very good sign, and everyone was staggered by how well he is doing at school.
It is so nice to hear from the doctors in charge of Charlie's care that he is 'something special', 'brilliant' and is used as an example to show newly-diagnosed families what can be achieved. He really is getting so grown up - he was asking his consultant during the echo (like an ultrasound scan of the heart) to show him all the different parts of his heart, and where his missing pump (ventricle) should have been. It is amazing to see Charlie's heart on the screen - with a large single ventricle, and in effect, one large atrium (because the wall between them was removed during his stage 1 surgery) and to see a tiny, white, shrivelled part, which should have grown into the large, left ventricle... but didn't. It's nothing short of miraculous that Charlie can manage so well with such an important part of his heart missing. He was so brave during all the tests - he's really not keen on some parts, but he knows that they have to be done, and just grits his teeth throughout.
We're so proud of our boy.
Needless to say, we are SO pleased and relieved. We feel like we can breathe again for another six months! I have a feeling that Charlie's birthday and Christmas are going to be extra special again this year!
Back soon with a proper post, but I just wanted to update for anyone checking in to see how we got on at the hospital!

1 comment:

Abi said...

Brilliant news!! well done Charlie! He needs to have words with Corwin about how to cope with all the tests at appointments!
Lovely to see you Sunday, sorry we did not chat for long.

Abi and Corwin x