July 14, 2009 by Brooke.

Just got a call from Pediatric Endocrinology at UVA.  Apparently Dr. Hoyer (the cardiologist at UVA) and Dr. Deboer (endocrinologist) have been discussing Jade’s case, and so they made her an appointment.  She’ll go see Dr. Deboer on September 2nd.  I really love that Dr. Hoyer made the appointment.  Seeing an endocrinologist was his idea, so they can rule out anything hormonal causing her growth issues, but basically just said that we could make the appointment at our leisure - sometime before her next cardiology check up.  To me, him having the conversations with Dr. Deboer and having them go ahead and set up an appointment shows me that he’s trying to be proactive and get more involved in her care.  I’m liking him more and more.

Honestly, I really don’t expect anything to turn up at this appointment.  My hunch is that she’s just genetically tiny.  But he’s right, it’s a good idea to rule out anything that might need treatment.  We just ask that God would have his hand on the testing and appointment and give wisdom to the doctors, that they would be able to figure out what’s cause for concern and what’s just normal for Jade.

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July 1, 2009 by Brooke.

Just got off the phone with the cardiologist (he’s AWESOME about calling me at home for stuff).

He said that he’s reviewed her results from yesterday and talked to the doctor who saw her and they really think the slight enlargment of the left ventricle is not due to any problems we need to be concerned about, but just a normal part of there being extra blood flow across the shunt between left and right ventricle.

He said that after reviewing the Echo from UVA, it does look like they were able to isolate the measurements from the VSD and the the measurements from the DCRV (muscle bundles) and that the higher numbers were just a product of the VSD continuing to get smaller, which is a very, very good thing.

He said the size is the eternal question that everyone’s wondering, but at this point they really doubt that her heart is causing it, and that’s why they want her to see an endocrinologist.  If the endocrinologist doesn’t find any abnormalities in her growth hormone levels, or thyroid function, they’ll consider that it’s more than likely just a quirk of her genetics and she’s truly just a tiny kid (someone has to be, right?).
He said that he wants to continue to see her every 6 months, especially if the endocrinologist comes back with nothing - *just in case* it is somehow related, and there’s something they’re missing.  If the endocrinologist does find that it’s related to a hormonal issue, then they’ll let him address that and put her back to seeing the cardiologist every 12 months.

After talking with him, I’m much more reassured.  So we’re back to just keeping an eye on things, but everything sounds very positive!  Praise the Lord!

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