A day at the hospital

Today we took both Elliot and Olle to the hospital. First Elliot did the condition test and this time it was positive, his sat before the test was 96 and the pulse 86 and after a 6 minutes’ walk the sat still was 96 and the pulse not higher than 90. This was the third time he did this test and this time he walked 328 meters compared to 250 meters the other times. The heart and lung check with ultra sound did not say anything new; the doctor only mentioned that the right heart chamber not had changed which is positive. The doctor also looked at Olle with ultra sound, this just to make sure that he not has the same symptoms as Elliot. Olle was okay so this was probably the last time Olle had to do this test.

Right know I’m tired but happy, these days at the hospital takes all my energy. Hopefully we don’t have to return to the hospital before August/September. In mid June we will go to our cottage in the Swedish west coast and we will stay there for more than 2 month. It will be luxury to be all together for such a long time.

We are not alone

Right now a lot happen, I heard from another parent that there is a big international study going about children and PH. I think there is a new medicine that is being tested. I wrote a mail to a professor in Sweden who is a specialist in PH and who is involved in this study. In the letter I described Elliot’s history with PH and I got a quick answer. The professor’s opinion was that we have the best treatment there is to have.

The day before yesterday I made my first entry to the Nordic message board for PH. I have already made contacts via this forum and it feels great to know that you are not alone in this mess. I have also found the message board that PH Association has and it was a positive discovery to find that they have a forum for parents with children that have PH. You will find the links to these two boards in my link list.

Yesterday I paid a visit to my ear doctor and this was not a positive meeting. I now have Ménière’s disease (tinnitus, loss of hearing, dizziness) on both my ears. I got diagnosed for Ménière on my left ear in 1996 and now it’s on both my ears. My belief is that it is Elliot’s disease has to do with this negative progress, I worry a lot and this affects my hearing.

Springtime in Stockholm

It's springtime in Stockholm and all over its green. It's really beautiful know. Since our last visit with Elliot to the hospital in February we have had a really good time. Both I and Marie have been home full time with our baby boy Olle and Elliot have been okay. When Elliot is playing and running he has to do frequent stops because his "legs are tired" as he explains it. But beside of these symptoms and that he has to take medicines three times a day we don't notice his disease. But still we worry a lot...

Our next visit to the hospital will be in late May and the routine is that he first do a condition test. He walks for 6 minutes and before and after the walk a nurse checks his pulse and saturation. Then the doctor checks his heart and lungs with ultrasound. But without catheterization it's difficult to say something about the lung pressure. The latest cat was made in December 2008 and the outcome was negative, Elliot has not responded to the medicines, but we still hope for a positive change.

During this spring I have got in contact with some other parents who have children with PAH in Sweden. But since the disease is very rare my hope with this blogg is to get in contact with parents outside Sweden.