Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Elijahs heart- There is hope because God heals!!

As most of you know Elijah was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy while in the NICU in Tampa Florida. First they told me he had Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, then when we saw a cardiologist in Kingsport he diagnosed him with Dialated Cardiomyopathy which is even worse! According to the Cariomyopathy Foundation the long term prognosis for this disease is as follows:
"Currently, the five year survival rate for children diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is roughly 85-95%, and for children diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, it is 40-50%. Children with restrictive cardiomyopathy have a 44-50% chance for 2 year survival following presentation"(http://www.childrenscardiomyopathy.org/site/prognosis.php).
I did not find out until today that they had changed his diagnosis to dilated cardiomyopathy, I found out when the new cardiologist was going over his records from my pediatricians office with me.
I know this all sounds bad but I have really great news, the cardiologist we saw today says that Elijah's heart is functioning normal. She said that the issue has apparantly resolved. He does have a small pocket of fluid around his heart which she said she was not worried about, she said it was probably caused by a virus. I know that God has healed Elijah, multiple tests were done in Tampa, and a additional one at home, his hands and feet would even turn blue. A NICU doctor had even mentioned the word "transplant" once when I asked about the long term implications.
God has done so much for Elijah, and he has brought him so far. There were so many times in the NICU that he was near death. When he had his first surgery I was told that he would not make it through the night, I prayed, and he did. When the doctors told me that he had a Grade IV bleed in his brain, I prayed, and with the next scan it was gone. I was told so many negative things while Elijah was in the hospital, but I just knew in my heart that God was going to heal him, and he did.
I want to thank everyone who has prayed for Elijah, please continue to keep Elijah and my family in your prayers! We are getting ready to leave Charlottesville right now, I will post some more pictures soon!

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