upcoming surgeries

Thalia was scheduled to have surgery (tubes and tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy) today, but after going to her pre-op appointment yesterday, the ENT decided he wanted to do it in Billings.  Miles City only has nurse anesthetists and he felt it would be safer to have an anesthesiologist.  We rescheduled the surgery for this coming Monday, and he also moved Cora's tonsillectomy up to the same day.  It will be nice to get them both over at the same time.  He also asked us to take Thalia to the cardiologist to check her heart before the procedure.  We weren't sure how reliable our China records are, but according to her file, she has no heart issues - only slight thickening of a valve.  Still, I didn't mind having an accurate baseline to start with, so I drove her to Billings today to see the pediatric cardiologist there.  I was so saddened to learn that there is absolutely nothing wrong with her heart that is related to her Down syndrome, but that she has leaking aortic and mitral valves - probably due to rheumatic fever.  It seems almost cruel that she could escape the heart problems typical of the majority of kids with Down syndrome, only to have something else damage her heart.  :(  The good news is that the leaks are mild for now.  The bad news is that she'll have to be checked each year, and that no one knows how long those valves will last.

Here's a picture of Thalia waiting for the doctor.  She had an exam, EKG and echocardiogram.  Thankfully she got to watch Finding Nemo during the echo, but I'm always amazed at how compliant she is with medical and dental procedures.