Meeting of the Minds on Liam

Dr. Kumar called earlier this evening to let us know the update from the discussion of Liam's heart in their conference today at Children's Memorial. Here's what she had to say:

*The anomaly and anatomy of Liam's heart is very concerning and rare (she has only seen 1-2 cases in her entire 20 year career and the same can be said of her colleagues) is that this type of anomaly is typically seen with congenital heart disease. They do not usually see this with a heart that has nothing wrong with it aside from this anomaly. So, they want to be thorough in their understanding of how his heart is functioning and the anatomy of his heart itself. It is possible this is the only issue in which her words were that "Liam would be one lucky guy" however it would be something they hardly ever see. We already know Liam is blessed and God has His hands on him.

*There are a couple other things they noticed - a small leaking of the mitral valve and a small narrowing of the pulmonary artery. These could both be normal, but when found with another issue, raise eyebrows a bit and require some more confirmation. The mitral valve leak could mean the muscle is not getting enough blood supply.

*From what they believe to have seen from the echocardiogram, Liam's coronary artery is not passing through any narrow pathway. This is good, it appears to have found a good path, but they want to confirm.

At this point, the surgeons do want to have the angiogram. There are risks with inserting the catheter. No procedure from this point forward is without risk. Liam would also undergo general anesthesia again.

As long as things progress well in his checkups, which will be every month an EKG and Echo along with continuing to wear the heart monitor, we will wait until he is 10lbs. OR 6 months old. Coming up on 3 months (12/8), he is 7lbs. and change, so we are thinking January/February for a timeframe.

Then, depending on what they find on the angiogram, would determine if he would need open heart surgery (and the arteries they are operating on are mere MILLIMETERS in size - think I am going to have a heart attack myself!). If they decide to not intervene, then Liam would have regular EKGs, ECHOS, stress tests, possibly limited activity for the foreseeable future. Of course this is the option we are praying for and ask you to join us in prayer.

Liam's next appointment will be in December and we will update then.

Please hold Liam in prayer.

When we look at our little sweetheart and he smirks and smiles at us, we cannot imagine him having to endure anything more He has already done so much in his short little life. Liam was not supposed to make it past the first few weeks in my womb, the odds were stacked against him, we were advised to not continue his life, yet he thrived in my womb despite being restricted. He came out a mere 2.9 lbs. but with the most developed lungs and was on room air by day 2! He had a grade 1 brain hemorrhage yet is so aware and alert that you swear he knows exactly what you are thinking. We can just see the future with his schemes and plans, getting his brothers involved to help carry them out. We know God has one great, big, exciting plan for him and we are so privileged to get to nurture his plan.

We are grateful, we are thankful, we are blessed!