Reduced Heart Function

We just got back home from our appointment with our cardiologist, Dr. Golander. Tehilla woke up for the "day" at 2:00 am, and did not get a chance to nap before her appointment, so she was in a foul mood. For a young toddler to cooperate during an echo and appointment, not to mention having vitals taken, is already pushing it. So, Tehilla was not having any of it today. She scowled at the echo technician, and all of the cardiologists. When Dr. Golander said hi and held out his hand for a high-five, she gave him the look of death and then burst into tears. Sigh...It was not an easy appointment.

But Elmo's World saved the day, and after I put it on for her and moved it around, so they could do the echo on her neck and chest, she was content. Although, she did attack the echo wand a few times.

Dr. Golander smiled from ear to ear, when I told him about all of the naughty and rambunctious "terrible two" behavior Tehilla has been up to. He said to her, "Fantastic! You have my full permission to keep acting like this!" But then after seeing my facial expression, he said, "Um...until you turn three. Then it's time to stop."

The echo showed that she has had some reduced heart function since our last visit, two months ago. The pressures in her heart have not changed, and her blood pressure is fine- although I need to start monitoring it more routinely. However, her function is down. Tehilla will be restarting Digoxin. Digoxin is not our favorite medication, because of it's toxicity, but it could be a lot worse. So we'll thank G-d and be content that that is the only thing changing. It does mean, that Tehilla needs a blood test in two weeks to check the toxicity level in her body and make sure that she is okay.

Dr. Golander was curious about Tehilla's development with walking. He loved seeing her walk around. He was trying to understand if her limitations are based on her heart function or on her development delays due to her medical history. I told him that since she has only really been walking for 5 weeks and she seems to be getting faster and out of breath less often, I think it's too soon to evaluate that. He was happy with that answer.

He doesn't need to see us for 3 months!