Cardiology: Good News!

Jacob had his yearly Cardiology appointment in December this year instead of waiting for January (due to a change in our insurance and wanting to fit it in before our new deductible took effect).  We had a great visit.  Jacob is so great at cooperating for the nurses and doctors.  He was excited to see his heart doctor so he could "get the goop (gel for echocardiogram) and a sucker".

EKG

 

Echocardiogram

We got wonderful news from Dr. Etheridge- Jacob's heart actually looks better than it did last year!  His Aortic Root Dilatation z-score is down to 3.5 (still not in normal parameters but an improvement from last year) and his Aortic Branch Stenosis has decreased.  Dr. Etheridge wants him active and happy- which he is!  Jacob was talking up a storm about school, turtles, Christmas, and anything he could think of.  She wants us to watch for him struggling in school (which is common for kids with heart defects due to lower oxygen levels effecting learning) so we can get additional assistance if needed.  Luckily we have not seen any signs that he might struggle in that area.

We love Dr. Etheridge!

Whew! I was kinda stressed since we have had such a cruddy medical year in our family. Merry early Christmas to us.  Now if only we can get through the highly germ filled winter!

Kindergarten

1st Day of School!

It is hard to believe that Jacob is in Kindergarten!  I remember wondering after he was born if we would ever see this day.  Before school started I met with his teacher and the school nurse to tell them about his heart.  Earlier in the year I helped out with a big project for the school to get an automated external defibrillator (AED), not because I thought he would need it, but because our cardiologist recommends every school have one.  Knowing it is there though does give me peace of mind.  Jacob has been so excited about starting school.  When I took him for testing before school began the teacher testing him came back and said "he has quite the personality".  That is totally true.  Jacob is our happy boy.  He loves to make people laugh and smile.  We are so glad to be blessed with his special spirit in our home!

Kindergarten

On the first day of school Jacob was so excited so wear his uniform and backpack.  When I picked him up however he wasn't looking great.  It turns out he had thrown up right at the end of school.  He spend the next few days sick and resting on the couch.  Not quite how we thought the 1st day/week would go.  He used to get sick all the time when he was little, but now the illnesses are more in line with that his sisters get.  He is still more prone to croup (the last ER doctor thought that was a combination of asthma and being intubated as a baby), but overall Jacob's health is good.

Sick on the 1st day of school :(

2012

Happy 5th Birthday!

Big boy bike for the birthday boy!

Preschool Graduation

Swimming Lessons

San Diego Trip

Heart Buddies: Cousins Jacob & Alec

IHH Family Heart Camp

I'm not too sure about this!

IHH Walk for Healing Hearts

1st tooth lost!

Always the happy & silly boy

Fall 2012

Here is a photo review of some highlights of 2012.  Jacob is growing and doing well.  He is definitely the entertainer of our family!

BYU Coach Mendenhall

Look who we met today...



Yes, that is BYU Football Coach Bronco Mendenhall. We just happened to run into him today. Jacob and I were both wearing our new BYU hoodies. Coach Bronco was walking in the door as I was getting ready to exit. He stopped and pointed to my shirt and then to his and said "We match". He was so nice to stop and take a picture with Jacob. Jacob was excited to see the "BYU Coach". Love my alma mater. Go Cougars!

Cardiology Update

Today was Jacob's cardiology appointment. He had an echo, ekg and visit with the doctor. Jacob didn't want to go until I reminded him that he usually gets a prize from the doctor.

The nurse said she was going to make him look like a robot:



Doctor Etheridge commented on how happy he was. He really is happy and smiley. He likes to make us laugh and make up silly words for things.



He held still and watched Thomas the Train for the echo. It was a little hard to see the pulmonary branch arteries but the echo tech came back to them later and got some really good views.



Report:
So overall Jacob looks good. Dr Etheridge wanted to make sure he is keeping up with his friends and cousins and he has been, so that is good. The branch arteries that they got good images of look better (less stenosis- last time measured at 15, this time at 12 and 13). Thus his murmur was less pronounced. As far as the Aortic Root Dilation goes, not as great news. His z-score was 4.5 which means his aortic root is roughly 4.5 times larger than the standard deviation (this is a statistical number they use based on his height, weight, and size of the root). The doctor is hoping that it will stop growing while he continues to grow (thus reducing the z-score... a good thing). We will have another appointment in a year and look at it all again.

Shark Teeth

Jacob has been a thumb sucker since he was a baby. I wanted him to have a way to comfort himself especially with all that he had been through with surgery and all. Now we are dealing with the effects of letting him suck his thumb at will. He has a really bad overbite. But he is so cute...


After lots of attempts to get him to stop sucking his thumb we talked to a couple of different doctors. Since Jacob says "I like sucking my thumb" and has no desire to stop we have had to resort to a orthodontic appliance. It looks worse than it is, we call it his shark teeth (sharks have multiple rows of teeth and since these are behind his regular teeth that is where we got the name). It looks like a rake that pokes his thumb (they are not sharp) if he tries to put it in his mouth.



It took him a couple of weeks to get used to talking with them in. The first couple of nights were ROUGH as he had to figure out how to get to sleep with out sucking his thumb. He had the appliance in for three months and has now had it out for a while. It was nice to brake the thumb habit and hopefully his jaw and teeth will adjust without needing future orthodontic work.

Blog Book

I finally got Jacob's blog printed into a book. I love it!



This is the first four years of posts. It took me a long time to edit and get the layouts that I wanted but I was able to find a coupon for $40 off the book printing so I got an awesome deal. Just waiting to find another coupon so I can print a second book!

Doctors

I love our Pediatrician. Dr. Ryan Wilcox at Utah Valley Pediatrics is so great and his office staff is wonderful. Nurse Sam knows me well and we talk on the phone often. :) Thankfully as Jacob has gotten older and we have gotten things under control with his heart, asthma, croup, and allergies we have been to the doctor less. Yea! At Jacob's last well child exam Dr Wilcox spent a while looking in his ear. I was thinking Jacob must have and ear infection but he had not been complaining or anything. Then Dr Wilcox says "I think there is something in there." Nice, so we were off to the Ear, Nose & Throat Doctor.



Yep, sure enough there was something in there. In order to get it out they wanted to strap Jacob to a papoose board so he wouldn't fight them to get it out. I did not feel comfortable with that. I told them he would do fine and I would hold him if need be. Jacob turned his head and held perfectly still as the Doctor removed a small red bead from his ear.



Jacob is so great and compliant with doctors. It makes appointment go so well.

Cardiology Update & 4th Birthday

Jacob had his yearly cardiology appointment recently. We were lucky to be able to schedule with the outpatient clinic in Riverton which is an extension of Primary Children's Hospital but way less busy. I had tried to prepare Jacob for the appointment so he would understand what was going to happen by telling him he would get stickers on him (EKG) and then some fun goop (gel) on his chest for the Echocardiogram. When we got there he started saying “I don't want stickers. I don't want goop.” He didn't want to take off his shirt for the EKG stickers. So the nurses bribed him. He got to pick a stuffed animal. He picked a cute monkey. He let me take off his shirt and held still for the EKG.



Then we went into the other room for the Echo. Again Jacob had more whining about the goop, but we put on Toy Story to watch and gave him a sucker. He laid down and cooperated really well. In fact the Echo Tech said “I wish all my patients today would act as good as you!”


We met with the the Cardiology Fellow. She was super sweet and asked a ton of questions about how Jacob was doing, how active he was, his development, any concerns, etc. I was glad to be able to tell her that Jacob is growing and developing right on target. He is potty trained and talking up a storm. He does gets extra tired some times (still takes naps), wants to be carried if we are walking a lot and will go a little blue if he is super cold. But there are no real things that we are worried about in his day to day activities.

Dr. Etheridge came in and talked to us. She is really happy with how Jacob is looking. They are still watching the Pulmonary Branch Stenosis and the Aortic Root Dilation, but neither has gotten any worse so that is wonderful news. We will go back in another year and do it all again. Yea for a good report!


Jacob is now a big 4 year old! His is excited to be a big boy. I am so glad he is potty trained. We are still working with him to stop sucking his thumb. He picked Tony the tiger cereal for his birthday breakfast cereal. He wanted to have a Red Birthday Party with our family. So we had everything red: plates, cups, silverware, napkins, streamers, jello, strawberries, kool-aid, cake, ice cream & chicken (regular color) but with ketchup. It was a great day.


During dinner my sweet husband was reflecting on where we were 4 years ago when Jacob was born. Our 10 year old daughter commented “I am so glad we have the church.” When I asked her what she meant she talked about my husband having the Priesthood and gratitude that Jacob has been blessed to still be with our family. I want to echo her gratitude for having the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. I do not know how we would have coped without the comfort of the Holy Ghost, the understanding of the Plan of Salvation, prayers offered in our behalf, and the Christ-like service that was rendered (and still is) to our family.

NG Tube

Jacob turned THREE years old and is such a boy. He loves bugs, trains, cars, Buzz Lightyear, and his army guys. I am starting to see the wheels turning in Jacob's little brain.

The other day Jacob was helping me with the laundry. Everytime we went in the laundry room he would point to the yellow gas line and say "that is mine". I had no idea why he would think the gas line is his so I just replied with "really" or "that is nice". On the forth time he said it I stopped to figure out what he was talking about. Here is the gas line...



I asked what the yellow thing was and he couldn't remember the name. I asked him what it was for and he said "for my nose". For you nose? Really? Jacob said "yes, for my nose when I was a baby." Then I remember showing him this picture in his baby book...



He asked about the yellow tube in his nose. I told him that was how he got food when he was a baby until he learned how to eat. We then had show and tell where I got out a NG tube from the extra supplies we never used...



When he saw the huge gas line he thought it was the NG tube and that is why he thought it was his. I told him it was too big for his nose. He asked if it was for when he got older. I was laughing at this point. What a cute little guy!