This is How Happy I am

We are back home and Tehilla fell asleep on the ride home and is now entertained with Peppa Pig.

Our appointment with Dr. Golander went so incredibly well. Tehilla's echo showed that her heart is doing very well. "That is a happy heart!" are the exact words Dr. Golander used. Her heart function looks very good and everything looks very well. So well, in fact, that we are on schedule to close the fenestration of her Fontan in the summer.

During the Fontan surgery a hole or “fenestration” is often made between the Fontan circuit and the right atrium so that if pressures become very high in the Fontan circuit, there is a “pop-off” into the heart. In other words, a hole was made to allow for a more successful surgery. It will be closed during a catheter procedure in the summer. Another milestone that we need to achieve.

Dr. Golander discussed her Holter monitor results. There was a very nice improvement. Instead of her previous mean (average) heart rate being 69, it went up to 87! Her lowest heart rate measured 74 and her highest measured 129! Those are excellent numbers for Tehilla and show a definite improvement. Dr. Golander said that they do not know why this bradycardia episode happened, but very clearly Tehilla's body is repairing itself and SHE DOES NOT NEED A PACEMAKER!!!!!

 He expressed how happy he is with her progress and said, "So happy that I do not need to see her for 6 months and we will repeat the Holter monitor before that appointment." When I asked about her level of stability and if we could fly abroad, he said, "She can go wherever. No restrictions. That is how comfortable I am."

We are overjoyed. I told Tehilla in the car that her heart is doing very well and Dr. Golander said that it is happy. She said, "It's healthy, Ima! I have a healthy heart!"