Maren saw her cardiologist on March 22. Her SpO2 oxygen reading was 90% and her chest x-rays did not show signs of congestive heart failure. This is fantastic news. Based on her stable condition and stellar physical condition and development, the doctor pushed back the potential MRI scan procedure and has scheduled Maren for another sedated echocardiogram on June 22, 2010. This is great news. Hopefully, it means no surgeries until September.
Every day that Maren can heal on her own, without the risks of surgical intervention, the better. In fact, the very latest studies on babies with conditions similar to Maren's suggest that "catch-up growth" of small right heart structures DOES HAPPEN. Although, this is debated in the medical community.
Incredibly, the entire May 2010 edition of Progress in Pediatric Cardiology, a journal that publishes approximately 4 issues a year, is devoted to PAIVS, and includes research that supports the existence of catch-up growth. In simple terms,this means that if a normal baby has a right ventricle size to left ventricle size ratio of 10:10, while Maren's started out at 5:10, it is possible, in time, for her to close that gap and have a ratio, of say, 8:10. This catch-up growth, is what we are praying for and, we hope, witnessing.
