Cardiology Update

Kalista saw Dr. Perry today for her cardiology follow-up. He confirmed that she does have WPW (Wolff-Parkinson-White heart arrythmia) after further EKG testing, but it looks like it is not causing any SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) at this time. He told us we should not worry and if there are any symptoms that need treatment, Kalista will be old enough by then to tell us how she feels. So...we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

We have scheduled an echocardiogram in February 2011 to double check and make sure the PDA ligation surgery that was done way back in May is truly patched up. Not sure why this was not done while we were in the NICU since it seems like proper follow-up, but better now than never. The cardiology team wants to make sure Kalista is properly fit to undergo another surgery next spring.

Other than that....no other medical information at this time. They did measure her growth and she is at 25 inches in length and a little bit over 15 pounds. Her hair has to contribute for at least 2 pounds since it is so thick....just kidding.

Another Week...Another Day

Enjoying some time in her high chair

We had our cardiology appointment with Dr. Nigam today. Jen had to go to work, so Matt took Kalista to the appointment with chest X-rays and EKG results in tow. We realized that it is the same pediatric cardiology department that we passed by for 3 1/2 months when Kalista was in the NICU.

So...the results....Dr. Nigam confirmed the previous diagnosis of Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) Syndrome after looking at the EKG and X-ray. Kalista had a few other doctors look at her and listen to her heart and told us that she seems fine at this point in time. We were advised that WPW is characterized by SVT (spontaneous ventricular tachycardia) and can last for up to 20 minutes. The doctor said that when her heart rate goes sky high for this long period of time, she will most likely be uncomfortable and sweat a lot (which she does) and should Kalista ever turn into a "devil child" or turns super red or blue, then we need to be seen immediately. We have two more follow-up visits scheduled to further investigate the severity of this condition. She will need to do another test called the Holter test next Friday. It monitors the heart's electrical activity more closely and involves little electrodes stuck to her chest. The other follow-up won't be until the beginning of December for another repeat EKG. We hope it is mild and only needs monitoring. If it is worse, then we may need medication or cardiac surgery to ablate (zap) the part that doesn't seem to be working properly. For more info...you can also visit: WPW info

Who me? A "devil" child?

We have an occupational therapy evaluation this coming Wednesday and it will be interesting what they discover about her feeding issues and oral aversion, since she is a bit more accepting of bottle nipples and things in her mouth. We'll keep you posted! We have been working with her sitting activities and she can easily reach for items in front of her now while supporting herself. She has also taken a new liking to the crawling stance (also known as the cow pose in yoga). She is getting better at rolling on to her belly 75% of the way. We have to supply the remaining 25% of support because she can't quite get over her bump.

Socializing with Mallory the Monkey

She continues to build her vocabulary through babbling and laughs at our jokes now. She enjoys hanging out with her NICU friend, Mallory the Monkey. It seems to be the only toy she smiles at when we bring it close to her. They have been through a lot together!