Another Trip to the Doctor

Over the past year I have changed a lot. Mostly for good, but parts of my new self drive me crazy. Number one being that I am crazy paranoid. As any heart mom out there can vouch for, our lives are are full of constant worry, wondering when something will go wrong, almost LOOKING for something that might possibly be wrong. Is Charlotte breathing heavier than normal? Do her fingers have more of a bluish tint than normal? Is her crabbiness simply an ear infection or teeth or is it something more? Does a long nap mean that she was especially tired today, or is she just so worn out because her little heart is working too hard? These questions cross my about 1000 times a day. Should we call the doctor? People say to trust your gut...but what happens when you are so constantly paranoid that your gut doesn't even know what to do?

I took Charlotte to the pulmonologist this afternoon because she just didn't seem "right." She's been pretty fussy and the last time we were there they said that her ears looked a little red (despite a course of antibiotics). Her fingers and toes have looked more dusky and her sats over the weekend were not great.

So here's the scoop....

1. One ear is still a little red with some fluid in it. We're going to try another antibiotic for a week and if things don't improve they will refer us to ENT. Yay...another doctor in our lives. (sense my sarcasm!?)

2. Sat in our little ladies big toe was 61 (YIKES) but when they put the probe around her foot it was 78-80 (MUCH BETTER, crazy that I was excited about those numbers!) Because of this they sent us to get some blood drawn for a hemoglobin check. Kiddos with heart conditions can have increased hemoglobins as a result of their chronically low O2 sats---kind of a way to compensate. Well, as hemoglobin increases, so does the viscosity of your blood. If her hemoglobin is elevated, that could mean that blood is flowing into her teeny tiny toe/finger blood vessels a little less efficiently, causing them to appear more blue even though her sats are ok elsewhere. They are ok with a hemoglobin of 15-16, but if it comes back 19 or greater, there is some cause for concern and we would likely be making plans for a visit to Omaha. Both Dr. Sami and Dr. Will don't think that this will be the case, but wanted to cover all of our bases. Still waiting for the phone call to let us know the results.

Overall they (we never get out of there without seeing multiple doctors) think that she looks great. We'll see how she responds to the antibiotic and go from there. Dr. Will said that her lungs sound great and that once we get closer to summer we can stop her inhaled steroids. We have a 2 month follow-up with cardiology in May and are hoping for good good things.

I will admit, it drives me crazy that I can't just let myself relax, but I never want to get to the point where I miss something big.

My name is Kristen and I'm a paranoid heart mom.