Wednesday, April 2, 2014

17 Year Old Miracle

Monday was our long awaited cardiology appointment with Cora. It's her third checkup and they were going to tell us if she needed heart surgery. She had another limited echo and was a little wiggly but did great. Then she saw the doctor and reported good news - no surgery! Her pulmonic stenosis had greatly improved, surprising the doctor. She left to double check the echo, it's not very often that this happens so she wanted to be sure. Cora's ASD is still there and still moderate in size but again, they won't do surgery on that until she's at least 30 pounds. A good appointment! We don't have to go back for four months, yay!

After the echo I was in the waiting room waiting to be seen by the doctor. Cora was a little fussy so I was trying to get her to sleep when a mother came in from the doctors door. She sat in the chair next to me and I started a small conversation and asked if she was here with her children. She told me all about her son.

Her son is 17 years old and has had heart defects since 6 months of age. He's had to undergo numerous surgeries and at 13 years old had a heart transplant. I was shocked. As she was speaking I got teary eyed and I somehow managed to ask, "How did you endure all of that? She's (pointing to Cora) only 4 months old and I'm about to go crazy!" She said she just takes it one day at a time. We had such a nice conversation and her son came through the door while he waited on the doctor so I was able to meet him. He had a small frame and was a little bit smaller than an average 17 year old but he was happy and smiling so big. I could tell he'd been through a lot and still had a few challenges ahead of him. We chatted a bit longer, she and I both cried together. As they were leaving she got out her husband's business card and on the back wrote down her and her son's names and her cell phone number. She gave me a tight hug and said, "If you ever need to talk or asked questions or anything. at. all. you call me. Please, please call me!"

I was so touched! This woman and her son had been through so many trials, so many ups and downs. I was thankful to meet her son and look into his eyes. He was filled with light and life. He gave me so much hope. I was not prepared  but was so thankful for this experience!

1 comment:

Elaina said...

Isn't it a wonderful feeling to know another kid as the same issues as your own baby. Hope it helped you a lot and put you at ease some what. Glad the appt went very well!