Heart check up

Hi all

We've been to Birmingham today for Thomas' heart check up. His height and weight were spot on and his sats 82 (fine for Thomas). They did an Echo and are very happy with him. As expected they discussed the timing of his next operation (the Fontan). Basically they have no waiting lists and as Thomas is now 4.5yrs 'we could get it all done and dusted by Autumn' GULP! Equally because he is doing well we have the 'luxury' of time so we plumped for the cardiac catheter (the exploratory procedure) in October/November with a view to the operation next Spring. We've always known it was coming but it is still hard. You would never choose to put your child through it but we know that it needs to happen so Thomas can keep up better with his peers.

They did an exercise tolerance test with him whereby they checked his sats at the top of the stairs, he then had to walk down two flights and back up two flights and then had sats checked again. His sats peaked at the top at 87 (yee-har!) and dropped to 70 after exercise. They said that 70 wasn't bad at all for Thomas. It was also interesting hearing the Dr describe children like Thomas at school. He said you will see them running around in the playground, the difference being they will run then stop (to get their breath back) run, stop, run, stop. Whereas the other children have so much more endurance. This is exactly what Thomas is like, he does everything his friends do now just at his pace. This 3rd op will give him much more energy and he will be able to cope better with exercise. We know this has to be better for him.

Thomas just wants to get his heart fixed so he can run faster and get a big present. Oh to be so carefree eh!

He starts school on 8th September - it's amazing to think he's going to school. I'm so happy for him but equally I'm a bit nervous. He is definitely ready for it and seems to be looking forward to it. We've been into see his teachers and go through all the medical side of things. They gave us confidence they will do right by him, the main thing is for us to keep communicating with each other. It's a big learning curve for all of us and it will take a bit of time for us all to get used to things but it's a fantastic milestone!

I'll try and keep the blog updated a bit more often over these next few months. We've had such a busy year enjoying ourselves I've neglected my blog duties ;-) Thomas & Daddy are going camping this weekend (weather permitting) at Wicksteed Park. We're all going for the day with our friends (The Duffs) then the big boys are staying over under canvas, while the Mummy's and the young ones head home and then regroup on Sunday morning.

The next Thursday is Samuel's first birthday, I really cannot believe he is doing to be one. He's such a little treasure, he's crawling around everywhere and spends most of his time trying to get at Thomas' toys. It's so lovely to see them together though.

We're off to Cornwall for the last week in August. We thought we'd get another holiday in before Thomas starts school. So no doubt Rick Steins fish and chips will be on the menu and hopefully a bit of sand castle building as well. Happy times!

I've added a couple of photos above - for some reason I couldn't get them to appear down here - must be out of practice ;-)