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Doctor Updates These are my health updates for the first two years of
my life. If you are interested in reading about how I'm doing now,
please check out my Care Page at
http://www.carepages.com
. My Care Page on that site is called BenCoulter. Please stop by any
time!
On February 6,2002, Ben was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect
called tetralogy of Fallot (see description below) and a small ASD (atrial
septal defect - whole in between the upper chambers of his heart). In
February, Ben's cardiologist, Dr. Liske, said that Ben was in heart
failure. This just means that his heart is working too hard. He was put
on two medications, Digoxin and Lasix.
March 26th, Ben weighed 8lbs. 8oz, and is gaining wonderfully. Ben's
pediatrician, Dr. Mike Damron, will keep a close eye on Ben's weight.
More than likely he will have surgery around 6 months of age.
April 23, 2002, Ben weighed 9lbs. He will begin taking Baby Prilosec
today for reflux and will see Dr. Liske on April 25th.
April 25, 2002, Ben went through several tests today and Dr. Liske has
determined that surgery in the near future is the best option. We have
decided to take Ben to the University of Michigan for the surgery. UM is
one of the top facilities in the country for pediatric cardiology. We
anticipate a trip to Ann Arbor in a month or so.
April 30, 2002, Ben is scheduled for surgery on May 24th. We will be
leaving for Michigan on the 21st or 22nd. We're all a little
apprehensive, but glad that we have a date set and that we can put this
behind us soon. Ben is really developing and starting to "talk" to us on
a regular basis.
May 9, 2002, Ben had a sedated echocardiogram today and it went very
well. Dr. Liske said it looked great for surgery and we hope that one
surgery will fix everything.
May 19, 2002, Karin and I would like to thank all of our friends and
family for the amazing support we have received over the past 3 1/2
months. Also we would especially like to thank the following friends for
donating blood for the surgery on Benjamin's behalf: LuAnn Glover, Jimmy
Jameson, Andrew Myers, Ronnie Pratt, Don Talbott, and Troy Turrentine
May 25, 2002, Ben had surgery yesterday and it went wonderfully. It
lasted almost 3 hours. They patched his VSD and put a couple of stitches
in the ASD. They didn't feel like they needed to do anything to the
valve so they left it like it was. He came off the beathing machine at
10am and is doing really well. It looks like he will go to his own room
out of ICU tomorrow or Monday.
May 26, 2002 Ben was moved from ICU to a regular room today. We were
able to pick him up and feed him for the first time since surgery. He's
still tired and fussy, but doing really well.
May 29, 2002, Today all the tubes and wires were removed and Ben is
getting back to his old ways. The swelling is almost all gone and Ben is
playing with some of his favorite toys. Ben had an echocardiogram again
today and there is still some leakage around his VSD but the doctors
think it will likely heal on its own. Everyone at U of M has been great
and it looks like we'll get to check out tomorrow. We'll be flying back
to Knoxville on Friday if everything goes according to plan.
May 31, 2002, The family is home from Michigan. Ben is trying out his
new crib that his friends Phil, Idamae and Andrew (Senior A) put
together for him while he was out of town. Ben pretty much screamed his
way through Detroit, Cincinnati and Knoxville's airports, but it's great
to be home. Thanks to everyone for all the support. We think the worst
is behind us.
June 3, 2002, We just spent all day at the cardiologist office. They did
a chest x-ray, EKG and echo today. Dr. Liske said that Ben's heart is
pumping strong and everything looked good. He still has about a 2mm VSD
but it should heal on its own. We will go back Friday to have his stitch
taken out from where the chest tube was placed. Then we go back in a
month. After this week Ben will be on only one heart medication, Lasix.
June 7, 2002, Ben gained 8 oz. since his visit on Monday. Dr. Liske
removed the stitch where the chest tube was. Now we are just waiting on
the steri strips to fall off. Dr. Damron said we can start giving Ben
rice cereal 2x a day. If he does well with that after 2 weeks we can
start him on vegetables.
June 19, 2002, All the steri strips are gone and Dr. Damron said that
Ben is looking wonderful. He now weighs 10lbs 11.5oz. Ben is extremely
active and has become quite the chatter box.
July 3, 2002, Ben went for a weight check and is up to 11lbs 5.5oz.
July 9, 2002, Ben weighs 11lbs 15oz and his length is 25". We will cut
his lasix in half and in one month discontinue it. Ben does not have to
go back to the cardiologist for 6 months.
July 12, 2002, Ben got his four month shots today (he had to weight 6
weeks past his surgery date) and he weighs 12lbs. 5oz. Dr. Damron said
he looks great and we don't have to go back for 6 weeks.
August 5, 2002. Ben is having a little tummy trouble but other than that
he is doing good.
Today he weighed 13lbs. 3oz.
August 28, 2002. Ben is now caught up on all his shots (delayed because
of surgery). His weight is up to 14 lbs 3 oz. and his length is 26 1/4
inches.
September 19, 2002. Ben went to see Dr. Graves, a Pediatric Ear, Nose
and Throat (ENT) doctor, about his tongue being attached too much to the
bottom of his mouth. We made an appointment for next week to have his
tongue clipped.
September 26, 2002. Ben had his tongue clipped in Dr. Graves office.
Brad held his legs, Karin held his arms, the nurse held his head and the
doctor clipped his tongue. It only took a few minutes and everything
should be ok now.
October 8, 2002. Ben seems to have constant teething troubles. Today's
weight is 15 lbs 9oz.
November 8, 2002. Ben had his nine month check-up and his weight is 16
lbs 0 oz and he is 27.5 inches long. We're back to once/month weight
checks.
December 4, 2002. Ben went to the doctor because he has had a cold for a
month. He is to take amoxicillian for 10 days. His prilosec dosage was
also increased. His weight today was only 16 lbs. 2 oz.
December 18, 2002. Ben went for a weight check and only weighed 16 lbs.
3 oz. Ben is scheduled to go to a GI specialists tomorrow.
December 19, 2002.The GI specialist thinks that the lack of weight gain
might be due to Ben just being a small child. We also spoke with a
dietician and she thought that Ben was probably eating better than most
children (Karin makes almost all Ben's food).
January 7, 2003. Ben went to see Dr. Liske (cardiologist) today. He
weighed 17 lbs. Dr. Liske said that his murmur sounded different so he
had an echo done. The echo showed that there is still a small VSD but
otherwise everything looked ok. We don't have to go back for one year.
February 5, 2003. Ben went to see Dr. Damron for his one year check-up.
He weighed 17 lbs. 8 oz. and his length was 28 1/4 inches. Overall he is
doing great but we still need to have monthly weight checks. He got two
shots which made him a little irritable.
March 5, 2003. Ben went for his monthly weight check. He weighed 18lbs.
August 6, 2003. Ben went to see Dr. Damron for his 18 month check-up. No
shots (yeah!) until he starts Kindergarten. He weighed 20 lbs. 3 oz.,
still at the 1% for his age, and 31 1/4 inches tall, which is up to the
25% for his age. He continues to follow the curve even though his
percentages are low. Dr. Damron says he is right on track and we don't
have to go back until Ben is 2 years old except for sick visits.
January 7, 2004. Ben went to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for his
annual cardiology appointment. He decided that this was too much for him
and he screamed at everyone single person except Dr. Liske. After
reviewing Ben's EKG, chest x-rays and medical history, Dr. Liske told us
that his heart was enlarged but just barely and for all practical
purposes it was normal. Ben will only need annual cardiology check ups,
no medication and no future surgery. Ben weighed 22 lbs and was 32
inches long.
February 9, 2004. Ben went for his 2 year routine visit with his
pediatrician, Dr. Damron. We were told that Ben is looking good and we
only need to come in annually or when he gets sick. Ben weighed 21 lb.
10 oz. (less than 3% for his age), was 33 inches long (15% for his age)
and his head circumference was 46.5 cm (10% for his age). He is small
for his age but continues to follow his growth curve and everyone thinks
he is doing great!
February 10, 2004. Ben had his first dental appointment. Other than a
lot of screaming at people things went well. We were told to get rid of
the pacifier and that there is a very good chance that Ben will need
bracing when he is older. He has a thick tissue in between his two top
front teeth. This will need to be cut later in life unless by some
chance he falls down and busts it (which is very possible).
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For more info on the
University of Michigan Congenital Heart Center
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We will keep updating this site
with Ben's progress.
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**Warning, medical lingo ahead!**
Tetralogy of Fallot has four components. The
first major one is a ventricular septal defect.
This is a large hole between the two ventricles
that lets venous (bluish) blood pass from the
right ventricle to the left one. From there it
goes to the aorta and on to the body without
passing through the lungs to be refreshed
with oxygen. The second major component of
Tetralogy of Fallot is a stenosis (narrowing) at,
or just beneath the pulmonary valve. The
narrowing partly blocks flow of venous blood
into the lungs. The last two components of
Tetralogy of Fallot are (1) the right ventricle is
more muscular than normal; (2) and the aorta
lies directly over the ventricle septal defect. |
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