Friday, May 24, 2013

Our heart hero is 10 months

I almost can't believe that Ryleigh is 10 months old. She's crawling everywhere and doing so great. Her last cardiology appointment went well, but we learned that Ryleigh will need another open heart surgery this year. The plan is to present her to her team when she reaches one year of age, which is in a couple of months, they will decide at that time the plan of action and a potential surgery date. Ryleigh continues to have severe stenosis and regurgitation of her good valve and replaced valve. While we dread the fact that she will undergo another open heart surgery, we have enjoyed every moment to this point. It's definitely something that I think about each and every day, and as the time approaches, my anxiety level goes up. I struggle from one day today to the next between being sad, being happy, and thinking that I am prepared. In reality, I don't think anything can prepare you for such an event. We are hoping that this surgery is successful in opening up her branch PAs and replacing the conduit in hopes that the next open heart surgery won't be for 5 to 8 years. Ryleigh is doing great milestone wise, she starting to sound out letters, chatting a little bit more, and gosh she crawling all over the place and standing. Yesterday she even tried to walk. So it's just a matter of weeks now that we will have a walking Walker. She has definitely added something amazing to our lives, and we just love her so much.