After reviewing Lucas' echocardiogram with a pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Perryman said there's nothing to do now. According to Perryman -- who is the director of pediatric cardiac surgery at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital -- he said there are only two reasons to correct an ASD: 1) if the hole is too big which results in a large amount of blood leakage or 2) if it's affecting the heart's function. Lucas' ASD is very small (about 3mm) and his heart is functioning normally. Perryman suggested we continue to monitor the ASD, but said there's nothing to do at the moment ... in other words, Lucas doesn't need surgery in his opinion. However, he does need periodic echocardiograms to check for any changes.
We also learned Lucas is not a candidate for catheterization because of the ASD's location -- too close to the valve. That said, if the ASD needs to be corrected at some point, it would mean open heart surgery. Perryman is going to bring the case to the weekly conference of cardiologists next week and see if they reach concensus. We're certainly feeling a little more relieved, but not as satisfied as I had hoped. We need to ensure this is the right course for our little man. The one thing we know is Lucas will be do for another echo in a few months and we'll see what the future holds. For now, we wait and pray that Lucas can spend the rest of his long, healthy life ignoring the tiny little hole in his heart.
Thanks for your thoughts, emails, calls, and prayers -- they're more meaningful than you could possibly know.
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