It has been about 9 months since we have had a cardiology check up-about a month longer than we wanted, but scheduling is so difficult with the office we go to, and it ended up being later than we wanted, especially since we had to work around Jared's travel schedule for this week. James has been doing great, with absolutely no reason for concern. It never fails though: I get nervous. I worry Dr. Garn will see something in the echo or the EKG that is cause for concern. It has happened before, and it always worries me, even if there are no red flags. I didn't sleep much last night as I tried to work through a lot of anxiety. We woke up early the next morning, got the kids to school, got James in and out of a bath, combed through his matted hair, and headed to the doctor's office. I was doing great on time, feeling totally prepared, and not terribly anxious until we got to the office. The receptionist took my name, I had my cards all ready to hand her, and she informed me that I was at the wrong office. Yes, that was the Gilbert office, but unbeknownst to me, they had opened a second Gilbert office that no one thought to tell me about--so when they said on all the reminder messages "Gilbert office", I assumed it was the same Gilbert office we had gone to last time! Oh, I mentally flipped out. I asked the receptionist to call the office we were SUPPOSED to be at, and then rushed the boys out of the office and back into the car. I was so prepared, everyone was happy and calm, and that all went up in flames. Sigh.
So we zipped down the road to the OTHER Gilbert office 15 minutes away, dashed in to the office, apologized profusely, and thankfully had a very warm welcome from wonderful office specialists. They felt so bad no one in scheduling clarified, and reassured me we were just fine. That admittedly made me feel a lot better. They called us back before I could even finish the paperwork, and got James right into his echo. It was his best echo to date. he watched the Paw Patrol and never moved a muscle--talking to the tech, following all her directions, and enjoying the cool lights show she had displayed on her ceiling. Jackson was just as good as James-it was amazing! We were in and out in 20 minutes-we've never had an echo go that fast.
James made our nurse laugh at his ability to help with the EKG and the blood pressure cuff. Dr. Garn came in very shortly thereafter, chatted for a while, and had a resident come in to all listen to James. I love Dr. Garn-he has always been a source of comfort for me and Jared, and we continue to appreciate all he does as James' cardiologist.
In short, everything with James' heart looks great! His numbers are pretty much the same as post-surgery.....which means all the repairs are holding wonderfully. The pressure gradient over his aortic valve, and across his arch, is 18-20....AMAZING, considering he is typically in the 40s, with surgery talk getting serious around high 50s/60s. Truly, it was excellent news, especially when paired with a healthy mitral valve (they were a little concerned there was a gradient a year ago, but it wasn't at all present this time).
So with that appointment under our belt, James does not need to go back until December--a great choice so we can get the appointment in during this insurance year after we will have obviously met our deductible and likely, our out-of-pocket max. This one appointment was nearly 500 dollars. How we miss our 100% coverage we had with Walden! At the end of the day though, knowing James' heart is doing well is well worth it.
Happy boy-great day for you!
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