We made the dreaded trip to Little Rock again last Friday. I hate to sound so down about it, but the trip is exhausting! Nearly 7 hours of driving and 3 hours of doctor appointments and tests are not fun for Holden.
Holden weighed in at 11lbs 14 oz. I looked up his last weight from the pediatrician and determined that he is gaining about 1 oz a day! What a perfect weight gain. The only test Children's performed on this visit was the echocardiogram. The doctor said that once again his pulmonary arteries are still too small. But now it's time to do something about it. At our last visit, we discussed with a doctor that Holden's arteries were extremely small and would not be able to do the less invasive balloon stretch. Instead they would have to open his chest and patch the arteries. But this time we spoke with another physician that does ballooning all day everyday. He feels confident in his ability and Holden's size of arteries that the ballooning could work. He actually has another patient with a condition similar to Holden's. He said that this baby boy is now 10 months old and has tolerated 3 balloon procedures thus far very well. He did say that Holden will likely need this procedure done several times throughout his life, he even termed it artery rehabing. And the surgery may be something we have to do in the future, this balloon procedure is buying us time!
Holden will be having this procedure done on August 30th. It will be just a short stay. They keep him overnight to monitor how his lungs adjust to the new flow of blood. Then we are out the door the next day. I don't know any details as to what time the procedure will be or if we can have visitors. I will let you all know soon.
I also need to post some more photos! I think he's super handsome!
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