Helmet Installed.

Here is a post from 2/1 that previously would not upload:

Elliott had his helmet fitted today. He tolerated it at the orthotist's office. There is a 5 day acclimation process. Today is day 1. One hour on, one hour off. Repeat. The first cycle, he wore it for 40 minutes screaming bloody murder most of the time. I couldn't stomach longer. I am going to have to toughen up. I tried distracting him with all of his favorite activities plus some new ones. There was no consoling my sweet boy. So we took a much needed break. We ate dinner and played and then tried another interval. The second time, he was much more tolerant.







Tomorrow will be rough for Elliott and his sweet Nana. He has to wear it for 2 hour increments with one hour breaks.

Oh! And I found out that insurance will cover the helmet!!!! Woo hoo! No word on how much they will pay, though....

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Cardiology visit

Elliott's cardiology visit went swimmingly. We love his new doc. Dr. P was thorough, and he had clearly studied E's chart and his pre- and post- operative anatomy. Elliott's right ventricle is still, and will likely always be small. But does size matter? In Elliott's case, it doesn't seem to matter too much. Elliott's right ventricle is functioning well. His blood oxygen saturations are in the mid 90s, so he does have some blue (oxygen-poor) blood flowing out the ASD "pop-off valve" to recirculate, but not much. Previously, we had discussed putting Elliott on a low-dose aspirin regimen to help guard against stroke (the lungs are actually responsible for filtering fine clots, and blue blood escaping the right ventricle over the ASD is not filtered). However, E's doc feels that the side effects of aspirin outweigh the benefit, considering E's stroke risk is not significant. Hooray!
So, no changes and we are continuing the wait and see pattern. This is fantastic news!
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