Almost two years ago my daughter got pneumonia and her chest x-ray showed a lot more than we ever expected. She had an enlarged pulmonary artery, the result of a large ASD* (Atrial Septal Defect). It was easily repaired by cardio cath with an Amplatzer Occluder. Her quality of life has improved greatly.
At the time Izaak was not quite 2 years old. And I talked to the cardiologist about Izaak. He has an almost identical history when it comes to breathing issues. We have no family medical history of asthma, and the breathing issues have always bothered me. The cardiologist assured me that ASDs are not genetic, and that it would be unlikely that we would have two in the same family.
Two years later and I'm still not convinced. One of the symptoms of ASD is breathing problems and frequent pneumonia infections. The biggest difference between Izaak and Letha is that he has had pneumonia more.
Izaak has been sick this week. It started as croup. It is now a full blown cold with breathing issues, fever and possibly the beginnings of..... pneumonia. Again.
It just seems logical to me. Do an ultrasound on his heart to make sure. That's all. Just check. I don't want my son to live with asthma until he's 12 (or longer) if he doesn't have to. If this is fixable, let's find it and fix it. If it ends up that he actually has asthma, we will deal with that.
Fortunately, we have a pediatrician that listens to "Mommy instincts". So, we are going for an echo tomorrow! We will find out if we have another case of "cardiac asthma" or if this is the real asthma that can't be fixed. My gut tells me I'm right about this. Hopefully being an insistent Mama will pay off with better health for my son in the end.
