New Cardiologist, New Information - not good news
Well I have been at home all morning taking care of other things that need to be done, and need to be done by me. I received a call from Stephanie at the hospital who said that a new cardiologist had been by and spoken with her. His opinion was not welcome.
Apparently there is another problem with the heart that was not evident upon the initial review of Meredith's echocardiogram. Because Stephanie was relaying the information all I have is a general description, no medical terminology. Meredith's heart valves are letting a lot of blood back into the heart after it has already been sent out to the body. According to this doctor, this is the most serious of the problems with her heart. He said that they may be able to do surgery #1, where they would fix the heart to rely on the one good ventricle, or they may be forced to try a different surgery (#2) that does not have a high success rate, but may be her only chance.
The good news if they do #1, Meredith would have an expected lifespan of up to 40 years. We were told initially that with this surgery she would probaly not live past her teens.
On Wednesday, all 13 cardiologists and the surgeons will get together and discuss our Meredith's seriously malfunctioning heart. It is after that meeting that they will give us their recommendation.
Apparently there is another problem with the heart that was not evident upon the initial review of Meredith's echocardiogram. Because Stephanie was relaying the information all I have is a general description, no medical terminology. Meredith's heart valves are letting a lot of blood back into the heart after it has already been sent out to the body. According to this doctor, this is the most serious of the problems with her heart. He said that they may be able to do surgery #1, where they would fix the heart to rely on the one good ventricle, or they may be forced to try a different surgery (#2) that does not have a high success rate, but may be her only chance.
The good news if they do #1, Meredith would have an expected lifespan of up to 40 years. We were told initially that with this surgery she would probaly not live past her teens.
On Wednesday, all 13 cardiologists and the surgeons will get together and discuss our Meredith's seriously malfunctioning heart. It is after that meeting that they will give us their recommendation.
-Chip
posted by Chip @ 8/23/2004 11:40:00 AM
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