Care4Conway: One Year Check-Up

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

One Year Check-Up

Conway went to Dr. Davis this morning for his 12 month check up and shots. He got four shots and was very unhappy about that. He made it through and settled down and then as soon as I laid him back down to dress him so we could leave and go to the dentist, he must have thought I was laying him back down and he was getting more shots because he started crying hysterically which makes him cough and gag and of course, vomit the entire feeding he had just finished! The tube came up and all. He was a mess. The nurse helped me clean the exam table so I could clean him up and dress him. It was awful! Dr. Davis is happy with his growth and developmental progress. He is in the 50th %ile for weight and head size and the 75th %ile for height. He'll go back somewhere between 15-18 months unless he gets sick before then.

Then it was on to the dentist. The snow had started by this time and getting both kids to the car, buckled in and stroller put away was a chore. I guess I'm out of practice since we really haven't gone anywhere all together since last summer! We made it to the dentist and were watching the local news in the waiting room and seeing how there were inches of snow in most parts of the city and county, but right around us the roads were great. This lasted until we got home and then it started a lot more. Thank God that the roads were clear and we made it everywhere safely. The dentist agreed that it was good to get him in to have a look since he has all that reflux and we talked about down the road possibly putting a protective layer (crowns) over his teeth to protect them from all the acid. He counted his teeth and took a look. Mookie had a turn too and did great. She let the doctor have a look-see and count her teeth. He said she is delayed in getting her back ones in(duh, she didn't get her first tooth until almost a year old!) but they are in good shape. She goes back in two weeks for a cleaning.

Thanks for looking in!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; March 4, 2008 at 4:30 PM

Conway's Heart Story

Conway's Heart Story

Conway David Beckemeier was born on March 3, 2007. His heart defects went undetected during pregnancy and he was diagnosed at two days of age with L-TGA, a large VSD, sub pulmonic stenosis and Ebstein’s Anomaly. Just before turning six months of age, he underwent open heart surgery to reroute the bloodflow in his heart. Called the "double switch", this procedure is the most technically challenging for pediatric cardio-thoracic surgeons to perform. The version of the double switch that Conway received on 8/28/07 was called the Rastelli-Senning with VSD closure and sub pulmonic resection. He suffered a grand mal seizure following the surgery that lasted over an hour and had several other post-op setbacks including surgical heart block, which required another operation on 9/18/07 to insert a pacemaker. Following surgery and such a long hospital stay, Conway developed an oral aversion (he would not eat) and he was 100% NG tube fed for eight months. He also lost muscle tone and required both physical and occupational therapies. In April 2008, he had a cardiac cath and attempted balloon angioplasty on his pulmonary arteries that did not work. Although his recovery was very long, he had a solid year or so of being a "normal" kid . Then in May of 2009, it was discovered that Conway was having rhythm disturbances, specifically atrial flutter. His pacemaker allowed it to go undetected for several weeks until he showed signs of heart failure and was admitted to the ICU for a week to be placed on IV heart meds and undergo cardioversion on 5/6/09. He went home and his heart function started recovering when he had another episode of flutter (6/16/09). This time, he was again hospitalized and put on IV milrinone, but he converted back to normal sinus rhythm by himself. At that time he was placed on the anti-arrhythmia drug, amiodarone. On 7/22/09 he had to be cardioverted again for yet another episode of flutter. The following week, he got worse instead of better. His cardiologist did a full work up and it was determined that his aortic, mitral and tricuspid valves were all leaking worse and were felt to be the cause of his heart failure. On 8/24/09 he had a cardiac cath and attempted ablation. The electrophysiologist was unable to induce a single arrhythmia. Then, just two days later, he went into atrial flutter on his own. He was placed back in the cath lab where he underwent mapping and a total of 17 burns were made to try to knock out his arrhythmias for good. The next day, 8/27/09, he had his second open heart surgery to repair his mitral valve called ring annuloplasty. He also had a partial Maze procedure done. His surgeries are performed at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). This time he was discharged just six days later! His Left Ventricular function improved drastically. In December 2010 we noticed he began getting more winded during physical activity. A January 2011 cath showed that he is outgrowing his RV-PA gortex conduit, but he was not symptomatic enough to warrant intervention. In April 2012 Conway’s fatigue increased and an echo at the end of May revealed that the ratio between the right and left sided pressures has gotten too high and it is time to replace the homograft that was placed when he was five months old. He had a cardiac cath on 5/25/12 which confirmed the echo findings. He had surgery on 8/8/12 to replace his pulmonary valve and RV-PA conduit, add an additional pacing wire to his left ventricle, and change his generator to a bi-ventricular model which is shown to preserve function and help the heart muscle pump more efficiently/effectively.