Wow, we are so amazed at the number of people who are still praying for Hannah!  The recent updates regarding signs posted in Texas simply blew us away.  We have no idea who put them up, but thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who is rallying prayer for our little girl!  These signs are the beginning of Hannah’s powerful testimony that God is still scripting, telling the world that He is still in the miracle business!

According to her cardiologist, Hannah looks marvelous!  Her last checkup was in the beginning of this month, and he told us to come back in late October for our next appointment!  Three whole months without seeing a doctor, WOW!!!  We are so thankful that she has been able to gain (and sustain) weight.  A month ago, she was still “off the charts”, but she is eating like a piglet and steadily gaining weight.  Two weeks ago she weighed 17 lbs 2 oz, and according to our scale at home, she now weighs close to 18 lbs!  But the BIGGEST news is that SHE IS WALKING!!!  It’s so funny to see this little bitty girl just stand up and take off!  She really looks too little to be walking.  It’s by far the cutest thing we’ve ever seen!  Our cardiologist told us that the average age for heart babies to begin walking is around 15 months, so she even beat that estimate by two months!

Since Hannah is on chronic Amiodarone medication, there is a risk of corneal deposits.  We took her to see a pediatric opthamologist, and at this point her eyes look completely normal!  We will follow up in January for more tests.

It has been so wonderful to live completely normal lives for the past 4 months — no hospital visits, and completely normal doctor visits.  So we continue to pray every single day that her arrhythmia will go away completely on its own.  January will be the big test, when her cardiologist will start to wean her from the Amiodarone.  Since the half life of Amiodarone is 90 days, it will take a few months for her body to completely metabolize the medication she’s already received, so we probably won’t know anything certain until closer to April.  In the interim, I’m sure there will be MANY holter monitors and EKG’s to make sure nothing is going wrong.

Again, we want to thank everyone for the continued prayers, website visits and guest book entries.  We apologize for not updating in so long.  It’s been really incredible spending normal, quality time with our little miracle.  Updated pictures are coming soon, we promise!!!

Posted: August 26th, 2007 under Latest Updates.
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Happy 1st Birthday, Hannah!!!!!

Our little Hannah turned one year old this Thursday, July 12th. What a special day it was to celebrate the miracle of her first year! We are so blessed by her continued health and normally functioning heart. Looking back over this past year, it is so evident how God has guided our steps, in good times and bad, to get Hannah to where she is today. He has answered so many of our prayers- that the doctors would be amazed (they are!), that she wouldn’t need a transplant (she didn’t!), that He would heal the heart He gave her (He is!), and that none of her heart problems would set her back developmentally (they haven’t!). We are so thankful for His faithfulness!

It was true joy to see Hannah playing with little friends and toys at her birthday party. For so long we couldn’t get her around people, now we don’t think twice about it. She’s still a little shy and gets overwhelmed at times by lots of people. (The nursery at church isn’t going well…) But we know over time she will get more comfortable in social settings. This Tuesday she has her one year check-up with her pediatrician, and we are very anxious to see what her weight is. She’s eating a lot more solids now, and it appears that she’s gotten a bit chunkier. We’re also going to see the nutritionist this week, so pray that we will get some good advice on how to get her weight up even more. But praise God that she is eating better!

Thank you all for continuing to check on Hannah! We are still believing that she will be totally off all medications one day and that her arrythmia will go away on its own. Keep the faith!

Posted: July 13th, 2007 under Latest Updates.
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Hannah’s heart is still doing wonderful! Last week she woke up a LOT every night, so we took her to her pediatrician and cardiologist just to make absoultely sure there was nothing wrong. They both assured us nothing was wrong and told us how awesome she looks and sounds! Her heart function continues to be perfectly normal, even though she’s off several meds, and her cardiologist even decreased her main heart med! The only slight concern was her weight, which was about 15 pounds 6 ounces. She’s off the chart now, so her pediatrician suggested we see a pediatric nutritionist to see if we can increase her caloric intake.We are very excited about this because Hannah is such a picky eater! She does great with her formula, but the only table foods she likes are Cheerios, toast, green beans, and chicken or turkey sticks. She loves fruit juice, but she will NOT eat fruit. So hopefully they will have some good ideas on how to get her to eat more. We also had to get some bloodwork done, and her results showed that everything was fine except two liver enzymes and one muscle enzyme were a little elevated. We’re waiting to hear from her cardiologist what he thinks about this. Hopefully it is normal considering the medication that she’s on. Lately Hannah has been sleeping much better at night, and we recently discovered another new tooth coming in, so that may explain the wakings last week. Continue to pray for no side effects from the meds and that her arrythmia will go away on its own.We are believing it will happen! God is faithful!

Posted: June 25th, 2007 under Latest Updates.
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Holter Monitor Results are in–

Completely normal rhythm! Not even a single abnormal beat! Wow!

We continue to stand amazed at the wonderful ways God has touched Hannah’s heart and our lives in the past few months.

The LPCF tennis tournament fundraiser was a HUGE success- we raised over $55,000 to help needy families of children suffering with heart disease or defects. Special thanks to Lori’s brother Brian for playing in the tournament, and our favorite sponsors, Funchess, Mills, White, & Co, and Orgain, Bell, & Tucker LLP. We are already looking forward to next year!

Posted: June 11th, 2007 under Latest Updates.
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MORE AWESOME NEWS TODAY!

Hannah had another ECHO today, and they measured her shortening fraction at 21% and 22%. She was really fussy and squirmy, so they weren’t able to do any more measurements. The cardiologist said it was MUCH better than that! Her mitral valve (which separates the left ventricle from the left atrium) is now fully closing with NO leakage! (Before, since her heart was so dilated, the leaflets of the mitral valve weren’t touching, so blood was recirculating between her left ventricle and left atrium.) Her heart literally looked brand new. I’ve never seen it contract so well! PRAISE GOD!!!

The cardiologist feels so good about her function that he’s beginning to wean her off of some of the heart failure and maintenance medications! This is another BIG answered prayer! She’s completely off of Digoxin and Aspirin, and her Carvedilol and Enalapril dosages have been changed to once a day instead of twice a day. In another three weeks, she will be completely off of the Carvedilol and Enalapril. They will have to do some blood work in a few weeks to make sure she’s not showing any signs of side-effects of the Amiodarone (the main anti-arrhythmia medication she’s on).

It’s becoming pretty clear that the AET is what caused all this in the first place. Her cardiologist feels like the next appointment in six weeks will show even more improvement in ventricular function, even with the reduced treatment. Hannah was sent home with a Holter monitor, just to make sure the Amiodarone is doing its job and controlling the arrhythmia.

As I look back at our journey over the past six months, it is so obvious that God has completely healed Hannah’s heart. She IS such an awesome testimony of the power of the God we serve, that He IS still in the miracle business!

Posted: May 29th, 2007 under Latest Updates.
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Hannah is still doing great!  We have another cardiologist appointment this Tuesday.  She’ll be taking home another Holter monitor, which she always hates, but it’s been a while since they’ve done one and they need to make sure that her arrhythmia is still being controlled by the medication.  We are expecting to hear another incredible report on Tuesday!  Of course, we’ll post an update as soon as we get home.

As a follow up to our last update, I am more convinced than ever that this arrhythmia (AET) caused all this in the first place.  Most of the cases of Dilated Cardiomyopathy I’ve read about that were caused by a viral infection resulted in a necessary heart transplant for the patient.  When we first arrived at Ochsner, everyone said that she needed a new heart, and that a transplant was almost inevitable.  I remember when Hannah was getting her heart cath, and they took those biopsies, how we prayed that it WAS a viral infection and not genetic.  Back then, we were unaware that she had an arrhythmia, and had no idea that an arrhythmia could cause Dilated Cardiomyopathy.  We were so shocked that the biopsy results came back negative for a viral infection, and almost disappointed because we had no idea what caused it.  God knew what He was doing!  In His perfect timing, everything has worked out and the pieces have fallen into place.  I asked Hannah’s cardiologist if he had looked at her EKG’s from Ochsner any more and if he saw any traces of AET.  He never noticed anything from those EKG’s.  I asked if the IV medications she was on back then could have been controlling the arrhythmia if it was present, and he replied that that is a definite possibility.

So for now, her medications will remain the same, and they will continue to monitor her heart for any signs of AET.  We are believing that they will see nothing but a PERFECT, SINUS RHYTHM.  After a while, they will begin to wean her from some of her other heart medications.  Eventually, we know that she won’t need to be on medication.  What a glorious day that will be!

Posted: May 28th, 2007 under Latest Updates.
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Today we received the best news of our lives!

Hannah had another cardiologist appointment today.  First of all, she has gained 5 ounces!  I could tell that she had “chunked out” a little bit even since Friday when Lori took her to Beaumont.  Originally her cardiologist was just going to increase the dosages of some of her medications and send us home with another Holter monitor.  After Lori expressed her disappointment with the Holter, he decided to do another ECHO to see what her heart was doing.

Hannah’s shortening fraction was measured at 25%!!!!!  THIS IS IN THE NORMAL RANGE!!!!!  (Normal shortening fraction is between 23% and 44%.)  Her entire heart is contracting exactly the way it should be, with every part moving!  Everyone in that office was screaming with excitement!  God continues to amaze us!  He is so faithful!  We knew there was a reason that we were back in the hospital in March, when Hannah was diagnosed with AET (ectopic atrial tachycardia).  We prayed and prayed that God would use the arrhythmia to help the doctors know how to treat her better, and that after the AET was under control she would get better FASTER.  That is EXACTLY what has begun to happen!

Her cardiologist said that improved heart function with improved rhythm control suggests that the AET caused the dilated cardiomyopathy in the first place.  This coincides with the biopsy results from Ochsner, but there are still some unknowns.  For instance, at Ochsner, they never saw any signs of arrhythmia in her EKG’s.

But you know what?  None of the “unknowns” matter.  What matters is what we DO know — that GOD is in control!  We give Him all the praise and glory for continuing to heal Hannah’s heart!  He continues to guide us and walk with us every step of this journey.  We know that ONE DAY, Hannah will not be on ANY medication, and HER HEART WILL BE COMPLETELY HEALED!  Please continue to pray for Hannah, praising God for what He has already done, and claiming that victory that we know has already been won!  This race isn’t over, but we’re much closer to the finish line!

This is BY FAR the best day of our lives (SO FAR)!!!

Posted: May 1st, 2007 under Latest Updates.
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Hannah is doing great!  She saw her pediatrician on Thursday, and he said that she looked great!  The only thing they advised is that we try to feed her more.  She is still very light for her age, but that’s ok.  Dilated Cardiomyopathy patients gain weight more slowly than other kids.  She seems to be taking in a little more formula per day now.  It’s so good to see her woof down everything we give her!  I can remember back in December when things were so bad, when she wasn’t eating hardly anything at all.  Wow, we have come a long way, and it’s all due to the grace of God.  He has blessed us so much more than we could ever imagine.  He has walked with us through this entire experience, giving us peace and strengthening our faith.  Our child is a daily reminder that there IS a God in Heaven who looks after His children!

Lori and Hannah took a little road trip this weekend to Beaumont to visit her mimi and pawpaw.  She hasn’t been to visit since November, before all this heart stuff happened.  Dad is a little lonely without the giggles and smiles from his girls, but I’m getting to catch up on a bunch of stuff I needed to do (namely work).  Needless to say, I’d much rather have my girls!  We made sure with Hannah’s cardiologist that it was ok for her to go, and he said “sure”.  He even emailed me yesterday afternoon to make sure they got there ok!  It is such a blessing to be able to know your child’s doctors as well as we do.  We know that God specifically placed him in our lives to take care of Hannah.  I can’t say enough good things about him and his staff.  You should see all the nurses’ eyes light up as soon as Hannah walks through their office door!

Hannah has started crawling!!!  She only takes a few little “crawly” steps at a time, but she can definitely crawl!  I guess it’s time to finish baby-proofing the house, although I know that Lori doesn’t let Hannah leave her sight for one second out of the day.

We are so blessed.  I just keep thinking about our journey over these past 4 months and wonder how people get through something like this without having the assurance that God is in control.  Yeah it’s hard to give Hannah her medicines.  She HATES them and cries the entire time.  But we just thank God every time, because we know how much worse it could be right now.  Through the storms we go through every day, God strengthens us.  His grace is sufficient — that’s all we need.  As long as God is in control, everything is going to be fine.

I also want to thank you all again for all the prayers you’ve prayed in the last 4 months for Hannah, and ask for your continued prayers for her heart function to continue to increase.  We have our next cardiology appointment on Tuesday.  I don’t think they’re going to do an ECHO and measure her function, but I do know that they’re going to tweak the dosages of a few of her medicines.  Please continue to pray that her heart function would continue to improve!  Now that her entire heart is contracting the way it should, we are expecting the improvements in her heart function to improve even more.  We pray for that day when we go to the cardiologist and they do an ECHO which shows her heart function has completely returned.  We WILL see that day, because Jesus has already won the victory, and He is in control!

Posted: April 28th, 2007 under Latest Updates.
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God has heard our prayers for Hannah once again! She had a wonderful checkup with her cardiologist on Tuesday.  First of all, when they took her vitals (the first thing they always do), we were SO relieved to see that her heart rate was 118.  It’s usually around 170 because she gets irritated when they do these things.  Her sats (oxygen saturation % of her blood) was perfect at 100%, and her blood pressure was perfectly normal.  First sigh of relief. So the doctor comes in, listens to her heart, and says she sounds great!  Second sigh of relief. When they did her ECHO, her numbers were still the same as they were on Thursday (no big surprise), but at one point he said, “Wow, she’s never done THAT before…”  Of course we were on the edge of our seats, in a mild panic, when he finished his sentence.  “…This is good!”  Third sigh of relief. Basically, this is the first time he has ever looked at her heart and seen the entire heart contract together!  Back in December when all this started, it wasn’t really even beating — it looked more like a wobble or a rocking motion.  When we got back from Ochsner, it looked better, but as a whole, the heart was still out of sync with itself.  We believe that Tuesday was an important milestone for Hannah.  Now that the heart is beating the way it should be, her ventricular function should continue to improve greatly. At the end of her echo, the doctor’s exact words were “She looks absolutely marvelous.”  PRAISE GOD!!!!  WOW, He is SO FAITHFUL.  After several weeks of taking a few steps backwards, we were so relieved to be moving forward again.  We were also relieved that we don’t have to do another holter monitor at home! Her cardiologist also suggested that we see her pediatrician sometime soon and get her caught up on her immunizations. This is another big step for Hannah and we are SO thankful that she is doing well enough to get them. It will be nice to take her out in public again! Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Hannah and our family. This is quite a roller coaster, but we know that God remains in control at all times and He is taking care of Hannah. We continue to rely fully on Him!

Posted: April 19th, 2007 under Latest Updates.
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God is faithful- the last holter monitor results were good! We got a call from the resident who works with Hannah’s cardiologist. We were immediately excited because they always told us that if the doctor himself calls, the news is not good. But if someone else calls, that’s a good sign. So we were VERY relieved to hear a female voice on the other end of the phone.

We should probably explain first that we were dreading the results. The entire night that Hannah was wearing the monitor was very difficult. She was fussy like never before. We tried everything we knew to console her, but she cried and cried for several hours. This was so unusual that we finally took off the monitor thinking it must have been bothering her that much. She finally went to sleep, but we were worried that her heart rate had been too high for too long while she was fussy.

BUT……

The resident said that her holter monitor results were great!  Ha!! Hallelujah!!!  Surprisingly, her heart rate NEVER even reached 200, which is a miracle in and of itself. This was especially amazing since Hannah had been SO upset.  She said that the fast heart rates might have been episodes of SVT, but after the cardiologist reviewed it, he said that her rhythm looked sinus (normal) even though it was really fast. Praise God that the new medicine appears to be working! And praise Him for showing us that even at her worst, Hannah’s heart is still okay. We KNOW God wanted to reveal this to us and we are thankful that He addressed our worries. It’s as if God was saying, “Look, I want you to know that I am still in control here, okay?” Forgive us, Lord, when we get nervous, worry, and start to doubt. We know that fear is not of God. The joy of the Lord will always be our strength. He is forever faithful.

Hannah sees her regular cardiologist Tuesday at 2:30. Please pray for another successful check-up with positive feedback. And please, please pray that Hannah will take her medicine better at home. It is getting increasingly difficult to hold her still and get her to swallow everything down. She can definitely “sense” when it is medicine time and cries, pushes us away, and tries to spit everything out. We have exhausted our bag of tricks in trying to distract her, but we are totally relying on the grace of God to help her get what she needs. We are still believing for the day when she is totally off her meds and completely healed. Our miracle is still in progress.

Check out Hannah’s new photos that we recently posted!

Posted: April 16th, 2007 under Latest Updates.
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