Cath and MRI next week

I am home with Carter and am going to take him to the pediatrician this afternoon. He's been struggling with this virus as well for the past few weeks and since Riley is being treated for pneumonia we'll have him looked at as well. Suzanne just arrived at the hospital to relieve Grampy and phoned in with this report.

1. Riley hasn't had any more fevers, this is good.
2. The heart cath is planned for either Monday 3/12 or Wednesday 3/14.
3. The cardiac MRI will take place on Tuesday 3/13.
4. The cardiologist told Grampy that the moderately leaky valve may indeed by the underlying cause of the effusions.
   

We've known all along that Riley's common atrioventricular valve is leaky. It's a complicated anatomical puzzle, but basically Riley has a single valve leading to his single ventricle. Fortunately Riley's valve has only been "mildly to moderately" leaky. However, this leakiness may turn out to be the problem.

We're going to talk to Riley's main cardiologist, Dr. Tarnoff, today. If the valve is the problem, we're not sure what can be done. We know that valve replacement is an option, but we're not sure how a valve replacement in hearts with common AV valves would work. We'll learn more today and post our updates.

I spent the morning dealing with work and getting my paid Family Medical Leave in place. I feel so fortunate with Riley's medical condition to have worked for companies that are incredibly supportive - first Yahoo!, then JotSpot and now Google. Not to mention companies that provide full health care (Riley has racked up over $1.2 million in care in his four years). Yet another reason why Google is the best place to work.