Check-Up

Conner returned to Children's Hospital today for his first check-up since being discharged.  His cardiologist called a few times to check in, but today was the first time to see her.  He had a chest x-ray, EKG, and then  we met with her, and she removed his stitches (or, "spiders" as Allie called them).  Conner is amazing!  His blood pressures look great!  His oxygen saturation looks great! His incision is healing nicely!  His x-ray showed that most of the fluid is now gone, which is great - but she did explain that the lower portion of his left lung and diaphragm appear to have suffered one of the complications we were told about.  The nerve to the diaphragm is very close to the aorta, and damage to the nerve can cause the diaphragm to not function properly.  If it is severe enough, surgery can be done to help resolve the problem, but as of right now, Conner seems fine and we will just monitor it.  The three scenarios we discussed were, first - that the nerve will heal itself over time and restore full lung/diaphragm function, OR second - Conner will be fine and never notice the slightly diminished lung capacity, which is where he is right now, OR third - Conner could develop shortness of breath during physical activity, and need surgery to fix the problem.  Given the many unknowns and risks of the major surgery Conner had, and the fact that as of right now Conner is breathing fine, and recovering amazingly fast, we are very grateful.