COOP'S CHECK UP.................

Cooper's appointment went great today. It started out great when we walked into the cardiac clinic and the lady at the front gives a little scream of excitement and yells, "Oh it's my favorite, I was just talking about you guys the other day!" It just makes it so nice that they always remember Cooper and he loves to flirt with all the nurses. He was such a big boy today. He did not cry at all and during his echo he lie so still that once the tech was done she asked if we would mind if a student practiced because he was being so good and calm. He was great. Dr. Kaine thought he looked and sounded great as well. The VSD which is a hole between the lower 2 chambers of the heart, has gotten bigger. Dr. Kaine said this is normal because he has grown so much and it is just growing with him. As for Coop turning purple and throwing up, they were not concerned nor surprised. These are just things that go along with his lack of blood flow and mixing of the good and bad blood in his heart. However, because he has grown and the VSD has grown, it is possible that his arteries that currently are very restricted are expanding which in Coop's case is not good until they get the heart fixed. Last May when we did his cardiac catheter and the postponed surgery, they had hoped that they could just use that cardiac catheter from then to prepare for our upcoming surgery. However, Dr. Kaine feels we need to do another so they have as much information as possible before his open heart surgery. Therefore, we are planning his cardiac catheter in April and then will schedule the open heart surgery in late May. Dr. Kaine continues to remind us that Coop's heart did not respond well to the last surgery and therefore they want to be as prepared as possible in hopes to avoid complications.

It was a good appointment as it assured us that he is currently stable. I think we are ready for the procedures to start, but I guess I will have to see how ready we really are when the time comes!