today we said goodbye to our cardiologist...

when Camden was a newborn we were told by the nicu cardiology team to expect that he would need open heart surgery and ongoing oxygen before age six months.  it was a scary time for a new mom and dad who were dealing with a multitude of issues with their newborn and it all just seemed to be one more thing on the ever growing pile of things to deal with.  Camden was born with three holes in his heart: an asd (atrial septal defect), a pda (patent ductus arteriosus) and a vsd (ventricular septal defect)...acronyms flew around us like someone was reciting the alphabet, but nothing really ever seemed to make sense.  we were told that the pda could close on its own but that the vsd would require open heart surgery to fix and that the asd might require surgery as well.  we had no idea what to expect...we spent the next six months visiting with his pediatrician and cardiologist fairly regularly, he was on oxygen at home for two months...and then we found out, to everyone's surprise, both the pda and the vsd had closed on their own.  we knew how much of a miracle this was and we were so grateful.  the closure of the vsd however created some blood pressure issues in Camden's lungs called pulmonary hypertension...the doctor hoped that it his lungs were just stabilizing from the closure and that it would clear up on its own...and it did.  our cardiology appointments backed off from weekly, to monthly, to bi yearly and then to yearly...today we got the news that Camden's asd has shrunk down to the point that surgery will not be necessary to close it and he is still showing no signs of his pulmonary hypertension...which means that today we said goodbye to dr. minich at primary children's hospital (unless something comes up of concern later on).  that is one less doctor on our list...and I am so overwhelmed and thankful. I wish I would have been able to tell myself in those first few months that my little man would go from this....

 

 

to this...