Today we had our check-up with Hannah’s cardiologist at Ochsner in New Orleans. The drive over brought back so many memories of making that first trip on December 17th- the uncertainty of it all, being in total shock, praying constantly, watching the helicopter fly overhead transporting our little Hannah, wondering what our future would be like. This time we were able to watch her sleeping peacefully in our own car, feeling so thankful that we were able to transport her ourselves, that we were just going for a check-up, and that we would return home with her in just a few hours. Oh, the things we are thankful for these days! Thank you, Lord! It felt so strange to be back in the hospital building where we had spent over 3 weeks with her in PICU. It had been our home away from home. We enjoyed seeing the wonderful nurses and doctors again who had taken such good care of Hannah. They are truly the best of the best, going beyond the call of duty.
We were very pleased with her check-up. She now weighs 14 pounds! Her cardiologist said over and over that she looks great. Her ultrasound was pretty much the same, “maybe a tiny bit better.” But we were encouraged nonetheless because she has never gotten worse, even though her medications have changed. He decreased another medication (Propranolol) and plans to have her off of it soon, and increased another (Carvedilol). These are both beta-blockers. He told us about another patient of his that had the same heart condition at one year of age. It took about a year and a half for the heart to return to normal function. So he reminded us to not be discouraged by the same ultrasound results for the past few weeks because it simply takes a lot more time. We can handle that! We are still believing for Hannah’s complete healing. In the meantime, she is still on the transplant list with downgraded status. Our prayer is that she will eventually be removed from this list! We do not have any more appointments scheduled in New Orleans as of right now, so we’ll continue seeing her cardiologist in Baton Rouge every two weeks. Thank you so much for praying us through this check-up today. We left New Orleans with a great sense of peace. God is in control and He is watching over Hannah. He is faithful. By His stripes, Hannah IS healed.