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After our longest stretch without going to Riley, we visited for a check-up at the beginning of June. During the check-up, Jayden had an EKG, an echocardiogram, and a visit with his cardiologist (Dr. Cortes). During the last check-up his cardiologist noticed a heart murmur, which was confirmed during this visit via the echo to be narrowing (stenosis) of his aortic valve. This is not completely uncommon given the structure of his heart, but is something that will require treatment. They changed his old medication, which was an ACE inhibitor that kept his left ventricle from working too hard & becoming overgrown (hypertrophic). His new medication is a Beta blocker, which is meant to relax the heart and keep the narrowing from increasing. We will go back to Riley at the end of September for another echo to see the progress of the valve. If the valve has continued to narrow, then most likely surgery will be bumped up to late fall. If the narrowing has stopped or reversed (keeping our fingers crossed), then they will proceed with surgery next spring. Either way, surgery will be necessary to fix the narrowed valve and they don't want to open him up twice if at all possible (we like that). His next open heart surgery will consist not only of the second part of the Fontan, but also valve tissue removal to widen the aortic valve. We will be sure to update you all in September!.jpg)
A happier note, Jayden is doing wonderful. He is into everything that he can find while jabbering up a storm. He has had an eventful summer so far with swimming lessons, boat rides, and playing with friends. Everyday he is learning something new, not always something we are wishing for him to learn, but something new!!! Today he learned to take his diaper off and hide it...it ended up being in the trunk of his car!!! If you want to see some recent pics of Jayden, you can check out picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/brettskilbred
With love,
Christie, Brett, & Jayden
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