Monday, June 4, 2018

Cardiologist Appointment

Beren went back to the cardiologist today.  We have been concerned about his health and if the ventricular septal defect (VSD) is causing more issues because he seemed to be getting worse.  From research, I know that his VSD will develop into congestive heart failure (CHF), and I was nervous that we were already there.  Well, after some miscalculations, the results came in that Beren's heart is actually maintaining it's size and is as strong and normal as can be expected with VSD.  The VSD will eventually cause the left ventricular to become enlarged.  CHF doesn't develop until the left atrium is also enlarged.  Overall, our doctor said that Beren is actually doing fine for having VSD.  She was surprised that he doesn't eat well and has never eaten well because she said with her other heart patients, that symptom doesn't develop until they have CHF.  So while we are happy for a good report, it is concerning as to why he seems to be getting worse if it isn't due to the VSD.  In the meantime, we are going to focus on making sure that he eats better and doesn't skip meals anymore.  Our doctor gave us good tips to help with that issue, so I am hopefully that we can take manage it easily with some changes.



For reference, here are the pictures from his first visit.  He was just soo tiny then!