A happy heart!

In the past I have dreaded July as it is usually filled with appointments, but as I posted last year, I gave up on worrying about my health as worrying gets you nowhere. I have had a healthy year. I started off July feeling great and unconsciously didn't schedule any appointments for me during the month. However, I did schedule a well-child check for Norah to see how she sizes up as a healthy little 4 year old. What started as a routine appointment turned a bit scary for a moment. Her doctor found a heart murmur that popped up out of nowhere. We were referred to the pediatric cardiologist in town and told that until her appointment we should keep her quiet and calm until they could check it out. Luckily they got us in relatively quickly, as Norah and quiet are about as synonymous as winter and summer. I knew that there was probably nothing wrong as heart murmurs are pretty common, but our doctor said when undetected these are the things that cause athletes to have sudden heart explosions. Lovely image. Each time she would run or play or start sweating I would try to remind her to slow down, but there is no stopping Norah. She would just look at me and say, "Oh, yeah. My whooshy heart...I gotta slow down."

A few days after her appointment we got some chest xrays done. She was a trooper and did a great job following directions to breathe at the right time, hold it for the right amount of time, and stand really still. Not easy tasks for a 4 year old and an impatient radiologist. 

Once we made it through the xrays we waited a few more days and met with the cardiologist. Norah had to have an electrocardiogram done, so it was a little nerve-wracking watching the nurse adhere all the sensors to her tiny chest, but she laid completely still and kept quiet. When Dr. Zittergruen came in he listened to all her chambers, checked her tests, and let us know it was benign! YEAH! She has a small hum in her jugular and a benign murmur, with a recheck next year. No restrictions on activities, thank God! It was hard to keep her quiet for a few weeks, I can't imagine having to restrict her much longer! Our hearts are happy...all of them!