Dextrocardia???

Well, we've had an interesting few days. Last week, Colton was diagnosed with an ear infection in his right ear. He was put on an antibiotic. Last Friday, he woke up from a nap with a 103.6 degree fever (even though he'd been on an antibiotic for 3 full days). I called the doctor's office and told them and they asked me to come in the next morning (Saturday) to check him again. Our doctor said she wanted to make sure she didn't miss anything, so she did a strep test, flu test, and a chest X-ray to check for pneumonia. Luckily, all tests came back negative. She thinks he just got a Viral Infection on top of his Ear Infection. We had to take pictures of him while we waited for all of the test results...









But after his chest X-ray, she told me that she was a little concerned with the way his heart looked on the X-ray. She compared it to an X-ray he had as a 2 months old, and they looked the same. She was suspicious that Colton could have Dextrocardia, a rare heart condition in which your heart points toward the right side of you chest instead of the left (basically flipped 180 degrees like a mirror image). She told me not to worry because people can live completely normal lives with Dextrocardia. Also, you can have Situs Inversus, which means your liver, spleen, or other organs are located on the opposite side of the body. It's important to know this so that when a doctor treats you, they'll know your organs are reversed in case you have Appendicitis, etc.... Who knew?? Less than 1% of the general population is born with this. But she told me not to worry...ummmm....YEAH RIGHT! What mom wants to hear that their child's heart and organs might be flipped backwards??????

On Monday, she had several other doctors look at his X-rays and they agreed it just didn't look normal. So, she personally called me and asked me to go to the Children's Hospital to have Radiology do a chest X-ray and an abdominal X-ray. I took him there this morning because I was a little anxious. I just couldn't believe that this was something his Cardiologist would have missed. "Oh yeah, we forgot to tell you...your child's heart is backwards." That might be an important thing to notice? He's had 4 Echos read by multiple doctors, so I just didn't think this could be possible. A child with DS can have so many heart defects, that a Cardiologist would've looked at his heart very carefully....but there's that little bit of doubt that creeps into the back of your mind. What if they missed it? What if it is true?

We had to wait for an hour in the waiting room. It took two of us to hold Colton down for the X-ray. He wasn't upset or crying, but I had to hold him arms and she had to hold his legs because he was able to wiggle out from under the weighted pillows she placed on top of legs. That little turkey. They took the two X-rays and told us they'd fax the results to our Pediatrician. More waiting....

But guess what?????? My doctor just called me. Everything came back NORMAL! Hallelujah! His heart and organs are perfectly normal! She said that his Right Atria is mildly enlarged, which made it look abnormal on his chest X-ray. She said she was so sorry that she made me go do that but she just wanted to make sure. I told her not to worry about it because I appreciate the fact that she cared and was looking at his X-ray very carefully. I'd rather her be cautious than to overlook something important.

But hey....I learned something new. Dextrocardia is a thing. People can live with their heart and organs completely backwards. It's very rare, but it can happen. I'm just glad my Colton doesn't have to live with it. One less thing to worry about.

Today, I'm thankful for good test results, good doctors, the ability to learn new things, and a little boy who is fever free and feeling much better.