Thursday, December 13, 2007

Ultrasound

This photo is not what you think it is! Yes, it is a sonagram, but we are not expecting another bundle of joy. Two is enough, thank you very much!

No, the above sonagram is a photo of Eddie. Well, actually, it’s a photo of his heart. And I’m very happy to say that it is a photo of Eddie’s very healthy heart!

A while back, Eddie was suffering some fainting spells that were triggered by stress reactions (like listening to the stories about the stations of the cross). We had him seen by a cardiologist, and he was diagnosed with a mild case of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). In a nutshell, the major symptom of POTS is when Eddie stands up quickly or becomes overly stressed or fearful, his heart rate becomes overly elevated without a loss of blood pressure, causing fainting. Essentially, this meant that Eddie is physiologically sensitive and prone to faint if over-exerted. This gave Eddie, quite literally, a get-out-of-P.E.-free card. (I wish I had one of those when I was a kid!)

Thankfully, Eddie’s symptoms have been very mild, and apart from staying well hydrated and staying out of exerting sports, he’s been doing just fine. The doctor was very pleased with the ultrasound yesterday, and Eddie found the whole thing rather interesting as well. Since Eddie is so thin, the doctor was able, for the first time ever in his career, to follow the ultrasound from the heart (Eddie thought it looked like a manatee), through the aorta (the candy-cane as the doctor called it), and clear down into the femoral artery in the leg.

All in all, we’re very happy that Eddie’s health remains strong—no mitral valve prolapse, no signs of cardiac abnormalities, and no recent symptoms of POTS. Hooray!

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