"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
--Jeremiah 29:11

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Prayers Answered!

Connie saw his cardiologist this morning and, after 2+ hours we left feeling quite relieved.  His exam was normal, other than a bit of a louder murmur.  His echo was unchanged from August.  The doctor is blaming the elevated CRP test on inflammation due to a non-specific virus. He really made over the fact that Conway's chest x-ray looks so much better than the last one on file.  His heart has a nicer contoured shape and everything.  He said we were absolutely doing the right thing by bringing him in, and to come back in two weeks or so if the chest pain is still present and we will consider a stress test.  Thank you so much for the prayers!

Unplanned Visit to the Cardiologist

Conway has not felt himself the past week and a half or so.  Especially concerning are reports of chest pain, mainly during exercise in P.E. or when wrestling with Karsten at home. He looks pale and has cold extremities. We have done all we can do to avoid seeing the cardiologist, but after results of labwork came back yesterday, the pediatrician's office wants him seen by Dr. Bromberg today.  So far here is what we know: Chest x-ray is normal, CBC red/white blood cell counts are normal, pacemaker check was normal, holter monitor last week of Dec. was normal.  He had two labs come back funny yesterday.  One was the sed. rate and the other was the C-Reactive Protein test.  It was high at a value of 13, where 0-1 is in the normal range.  This indicates inflammation.  We are unsure as to the cause.  Something minor like a virus could possibly explain the result, but he has had no fever and blood cell counts don't indicate he is fighting infection.  This test is used to measure risk for coronary artery disease, and given the chest pain he's been experiencing, the pediatrician did not feel comfortable dismissing this lab result. Please pray for wisdom for the doctor today as he evaluates Connie, and ask God to provide Greg and me with peace as we watch the clock until the appointment.  My guess is that they will do an echo and possibly a stress (treadmill) test.