GOOD NEWS / BAD NEWS

Lauren went for another heart check-up yesterday. I was so excited to have her go because I knew from her increased craziness and wiggly-ness that she is doing better. The echo took f-o-r-e-v-e-r but the pictures were super accurate and we have an accurate ejection fraction and it is ... drum roll please ... 52-59! Go, Lauren!! That is a 2-3% increase each week since her last check-up. That explains this photo that Elysha took in the waiting room. She spent much of her time as just a blur of activity. My face also accurately shows how I dealt with it knowing that my kid was the crazy loud kid in the waiting room.

Lauren also spent a significant amount of time charming each and every person in the waiting room. She might be loud and crazy but at least she is charming.

The pacemaker reading showed that Lauren's pacemaker has gone off 50 times in the last 5 weeks. That is sort of a good news / bad news thing. Bad that she has needed it 50 times, great that it is there and has saved her 50 times.

Overall, Lauren's cardiologist was really happy with how she is doing. For the first time ever, Dr. Escudero actually used the words "marked improvement" while smiling! Woot woot! Normally we get, "it looks pretty much the same as last time" and "she still has a very sick heart" so this was a serious improvement. It means that her new medications are really working for her heart. Praise the Lord.

Now, here's the bad news. And the news that we need serious prayer about. Even just thinking about this makes my stomach lurch. Apparently, the echo also showed that Lauren's aorta has narrowed. When her coronary artery had to be moved in the second surgery, the site that it was first implanted into on her aorta was closed up with a patch. It appears that scar tissue is building up in that are and impeding the blood flow through her aorta. For now they are just watching it to see what it does, but if it speeds up more, it will have to be corrected. That is absolutely the last thing that I want as I watch her zipping around the house and becoming a regular baby again. I don't know if I can take it again. I don't think Matt can take it again. And I don't even want to think of our little baby having to go through anything ever again. So please pray. Pray like you first prayed. Pray that there is no more narrowing and that it actually improves. Pray that no more procedures are necessary. And please pray for strength and faith for us so that we are not living in a state of worry for worry can't change anything.