Rebekah's Heart

It's finally here!  The diagram, with explanations, of Rebekah's heart!  :)  First, though, a diagram of a "normal" heart to give you a little perspective (thanks to Wikipedia for this easy-to-understand heart diagram!).

Okay, now this is the diagram of Rebekah's heart.  If you notice the cute little lacy, scalloped edges around the inside of Rebekah's right ventricle, it's not that way cause she's a cute and frilly little girl. :)  Actually, that means the wall of her heart is thickening due to her heart having to work extra hard to push against the high pressure in her pulmonary artery and lungs.  And I forgot to explain that the right sub-clavian artery is made of a dashed line because it actually travels behind the aorta and the superior vena cava.  We definitely have a beautifully unique little girl!

(If you are having a hard time reading all of my notes, click on the diagram and it should open larger in a new window.)

Nancy

UPDATE:1

Bekah has gone to sleep and now has had her echo and IV's completed. The Doctor's have not actually started the cath. part yet. Will update when we know more.

D

Heart Cath. Today

Bekah did great this morning. She was a little scared at first, but went thru pre-op like a trooper. She continues to amaze me at how strong she is at only 2. She went back to the cath. lab around 8:30am. I was told we may have an update on how things are going around 10.

D

Charleston again....

We arrived safely this evening in Charleston. I had a nice dinner with my ladies and a swim in the pool. Now to get some rest as we are up and down most of the night for feeds. Rebekah has a certain eating schedule to prep for cath. tomorrow. We will be checking in at MUSC at 6:15am tomorrow.

We will update as our adventure progresses.

Thanks for praying for us.

D

Heart Cath. August 16th

The summer is coming to a close around here, and we are preparing to start home schooling next week with Rebekah's brothers. We are also heading to Charleston next week for Rebekah's scheduled heart catheterization on Tuesday at MUSC. Rebekah is scheduled for first case on Tuesday, so we have to check in at the hospital at 6:15 in the morning. She should be going back to begin the catheterization around 7:00. If all goes well, it should be a three to four hour procedure. We are anticipating that Rebekah will be spending one night at MUSC for observation, and we should be coming home on Wednesday.

Please pray for us as we travel to MUSC, about a 3 to 4 hour trip, on Monday. Also pray that the doctors would be able to find a cause for Rebekah's fatigue and come up with a plan to help her. We are also praying that the pressures in Rebekah's heart and lungs will have come down from the dangerous levels they were at in the spring.

We praise the Lord for his providing and care of our family. We trust and know that the Lord will carry us thru all of our trials.

Thanks for supporting our family in prayer and love,

Drew