Cardiology Checkup

I brought Elijah in for his routine 6-month cardiology check-up today. We've bought sooo much time with the cadaver valve that has been a part of his body since June of 2011, so with each passing check-up we expect to hear that "It's time!" I would not have been surprised at all if we'd heard those words today. In fact, I was mildly shocked when Dr. G told me everything was great! Wow! Another amazing report. He reviewed today's echo, along with the cardiac MRI that was done ten days ago. Heart function is good and pressures inside his heart are not yet in a concerning range. Sometimes if a valve is nearing the end of its life, an MRI will show thickened tissue that would indicate it is being stretched beyond its means. None of that is present. Praise GOD!

Elijah always amazes me with his total bravery when entering the hospital premises. If I were him, I'd be a mess! He, however, walks in confidently with a smile, flirting with the nurses and telling jokes to everyone. This kid is my hero. And so is his brother. I adore my boys!

Tonight before bed Sammy asked if we could go outside and peek at the moon. We went out just at dusk and we were able to see a few stars pop up in the sky. Sammy loves nighttime. He loves the lights that glow from people's houses. He loves the stars and the moon. Hand in hand, we took a walk together in the dark. It was precious. We promised each other that we'd take many more of those special nighttime walks.

Here's to another six months of cardiology freedom! YAY! :)

ps. BOTH boys' conferences went great this week! Dan and I are beyond grateful for the teachers they've been paired with and how well the year has started at the new school (minus some bullying which has quickly been addressed). Quick brag moment...Sammy is in the 99th percentile for math skills! Such a smart boy!

Corn Maze 2017 and more!

Well HEY! It's been a while. I have been so consumed by work (in a good way!) that I rarely think to post here anymore. We've been in easy mode for quite a while as far as Elijah's medical stuff goes, which has been great! He had a cardiac MRI done about ten days ago (standard procedure for a 10-year-old kid with a complex heart like his) and we get those results on Wednesday. I really have no idea what to expect. If we're told he needs surgery soon I wouldn't be super surprised. And if we're told we get another six months "off" I wouldn't be surprised, either. He's been a bit more tired than usual and as far as we know, he's sleeping fine (for him). There have been times in the past few weeks when he has fallen asleep in class, which is a red flag. We'll see what Wednesday's cardiology appointment brings. I haven't been stressing about it at all and I'm completely just trusting in the perfect timing of everything!

We have officially been in our new house for ONE YEAR! It's surreal, awesome, crazy and strange all at once. Dan put together an amazing play set in the backyard and the boys thoroughly loved having that to play on and a pool to swim in this summer. It is the perfect home for us and we are beyond grateful for every square inch of it! This past weekend one of the trees in our front yard lost every single leaf in a matter of minutes (slight exaggeration), so what did we do? Rake? NO! We made piles and played and jumped and played some more and threw leaves around until it looked like a tornado had come through. 

The boys' new school seems to be a mostly good fit so far. Both boys love their teachers and are doing well keeping up with their work. Elijah has been at the receiving end of some name-calling, which we have stayed on top of. We have conferences for both boys tomorrow, so I'm hoping for a better picture then.

We enjoyed the Corn Maze this year on the muddiest, rainiest, wettest day of fall. Thankfully the corn pit was covered and we all still had a super fun time.

Sammy did NOT like the birds that kept landing on his head. "GET IT OFF, MOM!!!!!!!!"

Of course this was the year that Sammy wanted to walk through the entire maze...through mud and all, with map in hand.

The boys have this entire week off school for MEA/fall break, so we're getting out of the house a bit and trying to enjoy fall and each other. There was a snafu at the health club we had a membership at, so we have an unexpected one remaining month of membership after thinking we'd been done in January. While this is super annoying for Dan and me, the boys are elated! The child area at the club is one of their favorite places, so we plan to make the most of that this week.

Dan has started defensive training with the boys and this is Elijah's don't-mess-with-me face. :) Love it!

Thanks for peeking back in, if anyone is still here! Let me know if you want more updates or if this is overkill at this point in our journey? At any rate, have a wonderful week!