Tade's doctor's appointments

A lot of you got this email from me a couple of days ago. I thought I would post it for those of you who didn't. (Beware, it is loooong)


Two weeks ago he went to Primary Children's for a Heart Cath. (they insert a tube through the artery in the groin and weave it up to the heart) The doctors are able to send colored dyes through the arteries, thus getting a real good picture of how the aneurysms look.

Last Thursday, Tade went up again for a Stress MRI and an Echo (Stress MRI gets his heart beat up to resemble him running sprints, an echo is an ultra sound of his arteries and heart) With the Stress MRI the doctors are able to test how his heart handles stress and how well the blood flows through the arteries.

The news was absolutely fantastic. His right coronary artery had a series of eight or more aneurysms that went behind the heart. As of right now, the body has modified those aneurysms and used scar tissue to basically fix itself. As the test said: the right coronary artery look virtually normal.

There is no way to tell how much is scar tissue and how much is actual "natural filler" (for lack of a medical term) that is involved in the repair of the aneurysms. So to try and explain a complicated story: If the aneurysms are being "fixed" with scar tissue there is a chance that it won't stop fixing, therefore, eventually closing off the artery's blood flow to the heart. If it is "natural filler" it should stop when the aneurysms are fixed. Dr. Tani thinks there is probably a little bit of both going on. Best case scenario: if it is "natural filler" then he is "healed" as best as he can get. Worst case scenario: if it is scar tissue and it closes off the blood flow,it can cause all kinds of problems. The doctors think it is somewhere in between.

Tade also had a HUGE complex aneurysm on the left coronary artery. That is no longer huge or complex and looks to be healing right along with the other side.

The real good news is that the Dr. has taken Tade off his coumadin(blood thinner) which means he isn't at risk for blunt trauma and spontaneous bleeding issues and won't need the ongoing blood draws. (He now takes two baby aspirin everyday instead of one) Tade will still go in for his six month check-ups every year as growth spurts can do weird things to abnormal stuff in the body, but overall, everyone is thrilled with the changes.

If Tade does develop complications, he is now eligible for by-pass surgery and stints. Whereas before, the only option was a heart transplant. This in itself is wonderful news!

I was really surprised and shocked that when I saw the pictures I almost cried. I figured Tade would either stabilize or go down hill. I never in a million years thought that three years later he would get so much better. He still isn't able to do competition sports, but has gotten the okay to play recreationally with his brothers and friends.