well, one year later, here we are...

that's right, folks, today is asher's first "fontanniversary." one year ago today, at exactly this time, asher was in the OR at SickKids, with dr c finishing off asher's new circulation.

one year ago today, dr c said, "hopefully this is the last surgery he ever needs."

i'll give you a moment to stop laughing at the irony... {hums a little tune}

k, so here's where things stand as of today:

i just talked to dr w, and asked her my questions about the pacemaker. and she was a freaxiating font of information. seriously, i kind of have the heebie-jeebies right now, actually. {shudder}

so i asked, "how does the battery have 3 years more life in it now than it did in october?" her answer: "pacers usually underestimate the remaining life at first. but as they're in the patient longer, they collect more data, and can make a better estimate of the power it has left. so it is more accurate now than it was then. but you know, i had the same question when i was doing my training." ok, that makes some sense. (and how cool is that? i officially think like a cardiologist! HAHA)

"ok," i asked, "but it's pacing 88% of the time. so it's firing that often, right?" "yes," she said. "so if it's firing that much more often, why is it that his HR is 100 every time we check his pulse?" "well," she said, "when we check his pulse, he's probably nervous or scared or in some pain, which makes his heart rate go up." ok, we'll go with that (for now). not sure i'm entirely on board with that explanation, but i'll go with it at the moment. beats the alternative. {shrug}

then dr w added, "at some point, once he's more stable, we'll adjust the threshold of the pacemaker, lower the settings to maybe 75 or so. that way we can save the battery. but i don't want to do it now when he's like this. but once he's stable, we'll do that. maybe in a few months."

i told her that he now gets pain in his chest every time he's active. he gets a little edgy and flushed and tells me that his heart hurts. every. single. time. she was quite concerned about this. hence the "unstable" comments.

meantime, she wants us to switch his reflux meds from ranitidine to lansoprazole or something else. she thinks that reflux might account for some of the chest pains. and she just might be right... at least to some extent...

but why is he suddenly refluxing so much? he doesn't have that issue anymore, except in certain situations... hmmm... but nothing is showing up on ECG, echo or chest x-ray... but two years ago, nothing showed up on tests, either...

maybe i'm just paranoid. who knows. it's possible. but for now, i'm just hanging out with my littlest man at home. because, oh yeah, he's afraid to go back to school. last time he was there, he was taken to emerg in an ambulance with chest pain. can you say, PTSD??? not that i blame him...

but i made him pinky swear that he'd go to school tomorrow.

but it'll probably just be for half a day. i'd rather ease him back in than just throw him back in full time.

so there you go. the latest goings-on in asherland.

have a great day!!!! :)