Not much time to write as Brayden is waking from his nap. But wanted to update on Kaylin's CT angiogram results we just received.
Just to refresh your memory – this test was done to see what exactly, if anything, had happened to the aortic tissue as a result of fracturing open the metal stent in Kaylin’s aorta. It also gives a good look at exactly how narrow or wide the aorta is in the area of the stent, as well as above and below that so that the doctors can make the determination when or if something needs to happen.
After talking with Dr. Lawrence (our doc in Austin), everything looks good for now! We praise the Lord for that! There are no aneurysms which have formed, and it even appears her aorta has grown some because the area where the stent is measures 6.5mm and on the last scan (before the fracturing of the stent) it measured 5mm.
There is, of course, still some narrowing there compared to the rest of the aorta (we expected this) and she will at some point in the future need another stent placed to balloon the narrowing open further. The question now is WHEN to do that??!! Dr. Lawrence is sending the images to Dr. Justino at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and the two of them will consult on what to do next. This is always the question with Kaylin – do we wait for her to show clinical signs that she needs something done? OR do we operate more proactively and intervene long before she shows real clinical need to do so. We do not have these answers and won’t until we hear Dr. J weigh in. He is typically the one who is the more “far-thinking” decision maker when it comes to Kaylin.
It does look like we can at least wait several months before having to place another stent! The rest of her heart looks really, really good and she is just an amazing little girl and I think about the best 3 year old patient the hospital here had ever seen. All the doctors and nurses commented over and over how calm and well behaved she was for everything they had to do. She didn’t fuss, whine, cry, or put up a fight over anything. I think they just don’t realize to her, this is just a part of life – she doesn’t know any different. But that is NOT to take anything away from what an amazing little girl she truly is. We are blessed and are all in all happy with this latest report!
Love to all,
Nancy and Chris
