Cardiology Visit + Parent's Weekend

The last few days have been very busy. On Friday, I arrived down at Claremont and took Adrienne to City of Hope for her cardiology visit. "Dr. Ven" has a pretty abrupt bedside manner, quite different from what we're used to in pediatrics, but he is very knowledgeable. He was surprised to see someone as young and petite as Adrienne and kept remarking on how small she is. He did a very thorough exam and history and has ordered additional tests including a MUGA scan, additional blood work, EKG, and blood pressures in her legs. He feels that all of Adrienne's symptoms, particularly the edema in her feet and ankles as well as blue toes and lips (cyanosis), are definitely related to her heart. He seemed particularly concerned that the pulse in her feet and legs was very weak for an 18 year old. All of this is a sign that Adrienne is probably in congestive heart failure. It's sort of a good news/bad news story. Congestive heart failure can be reversed with medications including an ACE inhibitor, beta blocker, and maybe digoxin. The problem with these meds is that they lower blood pressure and Adrienne already suffers from low blood pressure. It will be a tough balancing act to get the right dose of medications to help her heart function better while making sure she doesn't pass out. The doctor wants her to take the first doses of the medications in the clinic and to stay for awhile to make sure she is okay. This all sounds fine to us and we're happy to have found a doctor that is doing something, compared to the other cardiologist who kept saying Adrienne's heart was unchanged despite increasing symptoms and echo reports that contradicted that. I had some questions about the correctness of the diagnosis (dilated cardiomyopathy) but Dr. Ven felt that was probably correct and a result of all of the treatments (chemo and radiation) that Adrienne has had.

The rest of Parent's Weekend was fun, filled with presentations and spending time with Adrienne and her friends. We were so impressed, once again, with the college and all they have to offer, as well as the students. Today, I went to two of Adrienne's classes: calculus and lit. The calculus looked like something I did in a past life though I couldn't really follow what the prof was doing. Lit was another story. They were discussing a Salman Rushdie book and the time in which the book takes place: 1991. I thought it was funny that the 18 year olds didn't know that the first Gulf War took place that year. They didn't know what the movie "The Magnificent Seven" was about, and one young lady thought it was a television show. Another student even referred to a character in the book in his forties, the same age as I am, as middle aged. Okay, yes, I'm definitely feeling old.