Post-Amplatzer Occluder Update.

On our way to the cath lab last week.
In recovery.
It has been a week since Letha came home from the hospital. And, oh, what a week it's been! In the hospital she was astounded that she ran to the nurses station without getting winded. I was astounded that we were seeing results as early as the first night! This is the device that's in her heart. This one is the largest they make, hers is significantly smaller.

Though she had the green light to return to school on Friday, she chose to stay home because she was still feeling not quite up to it. My girl LOVES school, so I was surprised.

On Saturday the headaches hit. Big, bad headaches. Eye pain. Nausea. "I-want-to-cut-my-head-off-and-throw-it-out-the-window" pain. We called the pediatrician who thought it best to call the cardiologist. Ah-ha! The headaches seem to be normal for those who have large holes closed. The body has to do some major adjusting of blood pressure/volume and such, which gives the brain a little workout. Poor Letha

The headaches are still hanging around, usually after aerobic activity. Tuesday evening after school Letha ran over to a friend's house. Todd coming home from work "caught" her running. She was winded, but not struggling to breathe. I asked her later about running, if it was different. She told me she got out of breath, but that she felt light, not heavy like before. Oh my precious girl! Your lungs were doing the job they were designed to do without being SO full of blood that they couldn't do their job!!!
Oh PRAISE the Lord!

Yesterday she ran and won races against some friends and her brother! I'm not sure that's ever happened before. Later in the afternoon we met with her Asthma & Allergy specialist. I had given him a letter from the Cardiologists findings, and he was surprised to learn of her ASD. He had never heard her murmur himself (and now he never will!). He also believes that her asthma could be solely from the ASD and our plan is to stop her asthma meds and try it out. Woohoo!

We went home, shared the good news with Todd and played some baseball in the street with the neighbor kids. Miss Anti-Sports herself joined us! Seriously, there are some big changes happening here. She may not change her personality, her likes or dislikes, but she IS discovering a new ability to um, BREATHE while doing things normal kids do, which makes her more open to actually DOING them! And who knows, if she can do them, maybe she'll find she LIKES doing them after all!

I have to laugh. Letha and Todd have started exercising together in the mornings on the Wii Fit. Todd informed me this morning that he can't keep up with her!
Who'd have thought one month ago that my asthmatic bookworm would outrun her brothers and outexercise her father in just the first week after having a hole in her heart repaired!
PRAISE the LORD!