Abigail turned 6 on June 19Ethan's ENT visit to evaluate his vocal cords
Since surgery, Ethan's voice and cry have slowly been getting louder and less hoarse. But, last week, I started getting more nervous about it because I was doing some research (I know, that is never a good thing to do) and reading some scary stuff about vocal cord paralysis. His cardiologist wanted me to check back in with him in July to let him know how Ethan was doing with this, so, I emailed him about my concerns last week and they were able to get Ethan in to see an ENT this afternoon.
The ENT put a scope with a camera on the end down Ethan's nose and took a look and there is good news. He saw movement in both the right and left vocal cords. I was relieved to know that the left side was not completely paralyzed. You would think that this would be obvious, but it isn't always as the right vocal cord can compensate for the left side. (It is amazing that God created our bodies in a way that they can still function properly even if something isn't perfect.)
What this means is that we don't need to take him back to the ENT for at least 6 months, if not one year and maybe not ever again. We will just continue to monitor him. It is ironic that just a couple of days after I set the ball rolling to get Ethan in to see the ENT, Brice and I both noticed that his voice and cry were noticeably louder. Weird.
I hated to put Ethan through something else traumatic - he DID NOT like this scope, but just felt like we needed to know where we stood on this. Now we do and hopefully we can leave this little guy alone for a very long time.
Thanks to those of you who have prayed specifically for his vocal cord to heal. The ENT said that with the trauma that Ethan has had to this area, it takes a long time to heal. The right vocal cord can compensate for the left side, but we pray that the left side will continue to heal and improve and be 100%.
The ENT put a scope with a camera on the end down Ethan's nose and took a look and there is good news. He saw movement in both the right and left vocal cords. I was relieved to know that the left side was not completely paralyzed. You would think that this would be obvious, but it isn't always as the right vocal cord can compensate for the left side. (It is amazing that God created our bodies in a way that they can still function properly even if something isn't perfect.)
What this means is that we don't need to take him back to the ENT for at least 6 months, if not one year and maybe not ever again. We will just continue to monitor him. It is ironic that just a couple of days after I set the ball rolling to get Ethan in to see the ENT, Brice and I both noticed that his voice and cry were noticeably louder. Weird.
I hated to put Ethan through something else traumatic - he DID NOT like this scope, but just felt like we needed to know where we stood on this. Now we do and hopefully we can leave this little guy alone for a very long time.
Thanks to those of you who have prayed specifically for his vocal cord to heal. The ENT said that with the trauma that Ethan has had to this area, it takes a long time to heal. The right vocal cord can compensate for the left side, but we pray that the left side will continue to heal and improve and be 100%.
Ethan's Cardiologist Appt Today
"Ethan's echo looks really good. You can treat him as a normal little boy. You don't have to be looking for the "signs" of heart problems like you have had to do in the past. His heart is doing really well." How do I even begin to thank God for news like that? On my knees with tears streaming down my face, speechless!
Ethan has strong pulses! His blood pressure is good - no meds needed. His mitral valve looks fine, his aortic valve is handling the increased blood flow from the heart repair very well and the miraculous news: THERE IS A ZERO GRADIENT IN HIS AORTIC ARTERY! Definition: no narrowing whatsoever! It is wide open! Praise God and praise Dr. James O'Brien!
Ethan did incredible sitting still for his BP reading - he had four nurses surrounding him. One took his BP, one blew bubbles, one talked to him and one wrote down the BP readings. =) I just held him. They were prepared! They were also happy to meet the "Ethan" on the CMH radio commercials.
We don't go back until September 17. That will be our longest absence from CMH since Ethan was born. Dr. Ardinger was just so pleased. He usually tries to not be overly positive for my sake, just to help me keep everything in perspective, but I could tell he was very happy and that makes me incredibly happy!
Ethan may still have problems come up as he gets older, but when I start to worry, I pray that I can choose to put my focus back on God and rejoice over the wonderful news from today.
As far as Ethan's left vocal cord issues, we are going to wait another month and if he still sounds hoarse, we will take him to an ENT to get it evaluated. We will just continue to pray that the problem resolves itself.
God is real, He is alive and He is working in the life of our family and we have had the privilege of seeing Him work. We don't deserve this, but that is what God's grace is - undeserving, but always there.
Have a wonderful day and I hope this news brings a smile to your face, and most of all, makes you stop and say a prayer of thanks to God! Your prayers have brought Ethan to this point. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Ethan has strong pulses! His blood pressure is good - no meds needed. His mitral valve looks fine, his aortic valve is handling the increased blood flow from the heart repair very well and the miraculous news: THERE IS A ZERO GRADIENT IN HIS AORTIC ARTERY! Definition: no narrowing whatsoever! It is wide open! Praise God and praise Dr. James O'Brien!
Ethan did incredible sitting still for his BP reading - he had four nurses surrounding him. One took his BP, one blew bubbles, one talked to him and one wrote down the BP readings. =) I just held him. They were prepared! They were also happy to meet the "Ethan" on the CMH radio commercials.
We don't go back until September 17. That will be our longest absence from CMH since Ethan was born. Dr. Ardinger was just so pleased. He usually tries to not be overly positive for my sake, just to help me keep everything in perspective, but I could tell he was very happy and that makes me incredibly happy!
Ethan may still have problems come up as he gets older, but when I start to worry, I pray that I can choose to put my focus back on God and rejoice over the wonderful news from today.
As far as Ethan's left vocal cord issues, we are going to wait another month and if he still sounds hoarse, we will take him to an ENT to get it evaluated. We will just continue to pray that the problem resolves itself.
God is real, He is alive and He is working in the life of our family and we have had the privilege of seeing Him work. We don't deserve this, but that is what God's grace is - undeserving, but always there.
Have a wonderful day and I hope this news brings a smile to your face, and most of all, makes you stop and say a prayer of thanks to God! Your prayers have brought Ethan to this point. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
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