A Chip off the Old Block

We already know Bodie looks just.like.his.daddy. As evidenced by this pic of Dusk as a young'un...

And we know he inherited A LOT of his daddy's personality. And we know that, in addition to his structural defect (HLHS), Bodie also inherited an electrical current issue (low resting heartrate combined with arrhythmia's) from daddy, grandpa and great granddad. (Daddy also has a structural defect, Non Compaction of the Left Ventricle (NCLV), also very rare like HLHS.)

Well, in an odd twist of things, both Bodie and Daddy ended up with holter monitors today! A holter monitor is a 24-hour continual monitoring of heart rhythm and activity. Bodie earned his thanks to his tachycardia last week; his cardiologist wants to make sure the Propranolol we started him on is doing the job. And daddy earned his thanks to a miserably failed stress test (his heart, too, got tachycardic)(like father, like son, right?)Daddy's cardiologist is running the necessary tests to determine whether Dusk needs a defibrillator :-(. His tests include a 24 hour holter, an MRI and a cardiac cath. This is all pretty serious stuff. We would really appreciate any and all prayers you can put forth for good results for daddy.

As far as Bodie, he rocked his cardiology appointment today!!! No echo, since last week's echo at the hospital looked good enough his card didn't feel we needed another one already (in last week's echo, his function was qualitatively lower than usual, but his tricuspid and aortic valve regurgitation had both improved enough that his card believes the lowered function was likely just due to the fact that his ventricle was being paced during the echo, which doesn't usually happen for him - the pacemaker was pacing the ventricle as a result of the EAT he was in; so on the whole, she was happy with the echo). But we did have length, weight, blood pressure, ekg and sats.

The last few appointments have been SO tough and Bodie was a nightmare at the hospital anytime anyone came near him with a blood pressure cuff or pulse ox (the echo tech actually said in the report that Bodie was a "tough patient" Ha!). Nothing worked to distract him - not toys, not books, not even his beloved Will.I.Am. singing "What I am". So, mommy decided to pull out all the stops and find a new strategy, which included all the junk food she could find in the pharmacy downstairs from his cardiologist. Like I said, no mother of the year award for me...unless it's given by the cardiology nurses - because he did not cry once!!! Sure, he ate an ENTIRE bag of M&M's (yes, you read that right) and 1/2 a bag of Reeses Pieces and wouldn't let go of the Oreo Cakester to save his life. But you know what? It was so worth it! For the first time in probably close to a year, the nurse was even able to get blood pressure readings on all 4 limbs (usually, we're exceedingly lucky if he stops screaming long enough to get 1 limb). So, say what you will, but it worked. So, I'm giving myself a pat on the back for outhinking my 18 month old for once. Oh yeah, and giving him a pat on the back for not losing his cookies the entire time. Good growth, good ekg results, good blood pressure results. So all in all, a VERY good cardiology appointment. Don't have to go back for 3 months! YAY!!!

So tonight, I celebrate by cuddling up with my favorite husband and his little mini-me, holter monitors and all...