Zane Has a Perfectly Healthy Heart!

So Zane’s cardiologist appointment was today, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results. The doctor said that Zane’s heart is “perfectly fine” and “normal” for a child his age who has next to no meat on his bones.

(Here I would have inserted a perfectly delightful picture of my child and his healthy heart, but it seems Blogger is being difficult today).

To give a bit of background, Zane’s pediatrician recommended in July that we see a cardiologist after hearing an extra “noise” in his heart at his 3 year check up. (To see that post, click here). He assured us that the murmur was probably nothing to be concerned about but just wanted us to get it checked out.

So I have been relatively low-key about the whole thing –after all I was busy freaking out about preschool – but I have to admit that I was feeling less than laid back as we walked into the hospital today.

There is just something disconcerting about taking your child to a cardiologist. Even if you believe that your child is completely heart healthy, which we did, it does raise the specter of something really serious being wrong. So the signs on the wall for “heart camp” – Are you between 7 -14 years old? Have you had heart surgery? How about camp? – seem positive because you are pleased that all kids are getting opportunities to have a good time. They are also disconcerting because, really, you hope your child never has to go there.

And the waiting room was also sobering. There were A LOT of people there. I think I would expect that at a run of the mill cardiologist, but this was a pediatric cardiologist’s office. Lots of people in that waiting room means that there are lots of little people with heart problems. It was very sobering. There was a couple with a very young baby – probably no more than 6 weeks old, and her parents held hands the entire time we were in the waiting room and just seemed so scared.

I could feel myself getting less and less certain the longer we were waiting. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait too awful long for Zane to get called back. The nurse was suitably impressed with the amount of asthma medication that Zane was on, and she personally knew both Zane’s pediatrician and his allergist and thought highly of both. She said his lungs sounded good – which is always a bonus at our house.

Then, it all got a bit ugly. Zane was supposed to get an EKG, but that wasn’t happening because he screamed, cried, and twisted his little body around until they gave up. He wouldn’t let them even take his blood pressure. This was all much harder on SRH than on me. He looks about as upset as Zane when it’s happening.

But let’s move on to the good part. The doctor came in, and his first words were, “Well, he looks healthy.” For the record, those are exactly the first words you want to hear from a pediatric cardiologist. I could feel myself relaxing, and Zane even smiled. The doctor was gentle. He was kind. And, most importantly, he said that the extra noises in Zane’s heart were completely normal for a child his age who is as slender as Zane is. (Apparently, skinny kids don’t have enough insulation to muffle those noises like other kids.)

That’s it. No follow up needed. No further appointments scheduled. My boy’s heart is completely healthy!

So, to be sure, I do feel like doing a happy dance. And thanks to everyone who has sent us good energy and prayers.

But I will also admit that my happiness feels a bit solemn because while I hope that all the other parents in the waiting room today got the same answer we did, I’m sure that some of them didn’t.

So I will just say that I am happy and aware of how lucky, loved, and fortunate we are.