Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Okay, a quick review...the last message that I sent about Hunter's heart condition (Pulmonary Hypertension) wasn't the best news. In May, Hunter had an echocardiogram. He outgrew his medication dosage and they wanted to see how well he could handle his heart condition without the medication. The answer to this was that he couldn't handle it without medication. Hunter needed the Viagra to control the PH, the pressures weren't up on the right side of his heart, and he was requiring more oxygen. He was so close to coming off oxygen and this set him back. Ugh! I was really discouraged and disappointed. His cardiologist increased the Viagra dosage to accomodate his weight and waited to see if Hunter would get better. His appointment with the cardiologist was a lot better today. His pressures were a lot better and they tested him off oxygen. He passed with flying colors. I had them paint me a picture and this is what I learned. When they are looking at the pressures in his heart, they are looking at the systolic pressure on the right side of the heart. I think I explained this, but ... just in case...the right side of the heart is responsible for pumping blood into the lung. The lungs oxygenate the blood, pump it back into the heart and our left side of the heart is responsible for pumping the oxygenated blood to our body. Hunter's lungs are scarred and damaged from the two and a half months that he spent on a ventilator and oscillator (high pressure ventilator) right after his birth. In addition, His lungs were so premature that they barely existed when he was born. This created his lung problems. Therefore, the right side of the heart has a problem pumping the blood into his lungs to be oxygenated. Pressures build up in the heart because its working hard to get the blood into the lungs and this creates PH. In severe cases, PH can be fatal. This explains my concern for his heart condition and my excitement that its very well controlled. So, back to the systolic pressure. Babies blood pressure is a lot lower than ours. Today, Hunter's blood pressure was 87/39 (Perfect). A normal person's systolic pressure in there right side of the heart would be around 10-15. A person with PH has higher pressures. If Hunter had Severe PH, his systolic pressure in the right side of his heart would match the systolic pressure in his blood pressure reading (87). In May, Hunter's systolic pressure was almost 50. Today, Hunter's systolic pressure was 21. Therefore, he was 6 points away from being considered normal. So, this is great news and as he grows, his lungs will grow and the diseased lung with be replaced with healthy lung. This will result in the blood moving freely from the right side of the heart into the lungs where he will outgrow the PH and his lung condition. They believe this is happening. They're going to try to have him outgrow his medication. This will be over a 6 month period. They hope that 6 months will give us better results. The cardiologist gave the approval for Hunter to be taken off oxygen once Pulmonary agrees. Pulmonary was waiting for Cardiology. Cardiology has also reduced Hunter's restrictions on oxygen. We HAD to keep Hunter's saturation above 96 percent at all times because of his Pulmonary Hypertension. Oxygen helps to relax the blood vessels. This makes it easier for blood to flow. Cardiology believes that the Viagra is enough and oxygen is not needed. Cardiology said that if Hunter stays above 92%, they will be happy. I'm thinking that Hunter will be off oxygen soon! Hunter ALWAYS stays above 92%. I'm so thankful that Viagra works for Hunter. They're many babies and preemies that it doesn't work for and PH is fatal for them. It was a chance that I took and it worked! Oh, Hunter gained 3 pounds since May. You should see his chubby little legs. Oh my gosh! They are adorable. He was 21 pounds 6 ounces today. He has come a long way from his lowest weight ever of 1 pound 3 ounces.