Another Night with the Same View

Eric's here at MCR for another night, but should be discharged tomorrow. We haven't heard much about the cultures or their results, but he did kick the fever.... And of course, that's a good thing. They want to keep him here just to make sure that fever doesn't return.

The echo cardiogram results freaked us out. The cardiologist that read and reported on the echo stated that Eric's valve has "moderate regurgitation". Eric's repair in Cleveland brought him from "severe" regurgitation​ to "trace-mild" regurgitation. Our immediate fear from this information is that the repair is failing. Still, we know that this report came from one cardiologist's interpretation. The results were concerning enough, that a transesophageal ecocardiogram test or "TEE" was ordered. Eric's had this one before.....so he kinda knew what to expect. They stick a big ol wand with a camera down your esophagus with a whole bunch of Versed (to help you not remember the whole thing) and Fentanyl (to help you relax and not fight the big stick being shoved down your throat). While the procedure was awful (this doctor is super conservative with the meds.... The nurse apologized after the doctor left because of it), it did put our minds more at ease. First, no "vegetation" present on or in the heart. Second, this doctor brought the regurgitation back to "mild". Still, we're hoping to get Cleveland Clinic to view the imaging from both the Echo and TEE Eric had done today, and compare them to Eric's post-op imaging done on the day of the surgery. We really want to know that the repair really is "sticking".

In the end, we're guessing that Eric picked up a nasty virus....probably when we were at the Children's ER for Mackenzie's concussion! It was nothing that would've ever brought us to the ER in the past, but post 5 weeks open heart surgery is a whole different story.

I know I'm super annoying about expressing my high praises for Cleveland Clinic, but just one last time.... I am sooooo glad we went there for Eric's surgery. They get accused of being a "factory"..... Sure whatever, but they are darn efficient and they provided us with exceptional personal care. I really do have to lower my health care expectations from now on. I'll leave it at that.

Thanks for all the thoughts, prayers, concerns, good juju, visits, messages, calls, texts, etc. Such a comfort and help to us all!