Yesterday Matt and I noticed that she had stopped napping for more than 10 minutes at a time. By 11:00pm last night she was still wired so we decided to take her to the emergency room to see if there was something going on. She had similar difficulty sleeping when she was going through withdrawal in the ICU so we wondered if her methadone weaning schedule was still too steep. Again, Lauren turned on the charm. Her smile got us sent home pretty quickly and she finally fell asleep around 3am.
This morning the cardiac clinic called us to see if we would like to come in today to have her checked out. Sure! We've missed our home away from home.
Lauren had another EKG and Echo and then we saw the young doctor who first saw her ALCAPA. I knew that the news wasn't awesome when the doctor walked in with two other doctors as well. Apparently there is the chance that Lauren's artery that has been moved has some scar tissue which is making it skinnier than it should be - kind of like pinching a hose and having the water spray out faster. They are not quite sure if it is faster because her other Echos were a little fuzzy and this was the first really clear picture that they have been able to capture. Lauren was sent for some blood work (thank you Matt for taking that one for the team and going in with her) and we should know by when she sees the cardiac surgeon what the results are.
I started to feel really anxious when I heard that she might have an issue because I just want to hear that she is slowly and surely getting better. It also doesn't help that she is feeding every hour and a half round the clock so I'm pretty tired. After a nap I was able to look at it a bit more objectively.
If her artery does have scar tissue, they will be able to fix it without opening her sternum up again with an angioplasty. Her mood has increased since her time in the hospital and she has started to use her arms and legs much more than before. I don't want to lose sight of what I'm supposed to be focused on - miracles, instead of maybes.
The radiologist today was excited to see Lauren because she actually has a friend whose daughter has the same condition. Since ALCAPA is very rare, this in itself is an interesting God twist. She showed us pictures of the little girl now and told us that it took awhile but that her heart slowly but steadily got better. That has really helped to give me hope. It is amazing that just when we need a little boost, God sends exactly what we need.
Our prayer requests today might be a little more obvious. Please pray that Lauren begins to sleep more because that time is ideal for her heart to heal itself. Please pray as well that there is no scar tissue clogging up her artery. And please continue to pray that her heart shows improvement.
Lauren is know throughout the hospital for her recovery thus far and we want her story to be know for her complete healing as well.
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