What a Difference a Year Makes

Ain't that the truth.

One year ago, at this exact point in time, Erin and I (and many of you) were waiting for Molly to come out of heart surgery. Perhaps you recall that a few days prior to the surgery we were weighing the pros and cons - first of whether or not to have surgery, and then of which of two procedures to choose from? Perhaps you even recall the day of the catheterization, when Molly's surgeon said he wanted us to make a decision that, "one year from now we'll all look back on and be happy with." Well, I haven't talked to him in several months, but I can tell you the Browns are pretty darn happy with the decision we made and I'd have to assume he'd agree.

As I say over and over, I don't post much when Molly is healthy. One could deduce from my blatant lack of attention to this space that Molly has been very healthy. This is, for the most part, quite accurate.

Molly has been feeling well for a while now. If you read the CaringBridge site, Erin gives you a bit more detail on the day-to-day activities.

I have to say though, it’s not all little rays of sunshine. Again, thinking back to the surgery a year ago, we knew the band on her heart would only temporarily fix the way her heart functions. The next step is to close the hole, which is quite large. Apparently the material they use as a patch is not typically used for a hole as large as that in Molly’s heart. And, there was also the secondary concern of a potentially smaller, muscular VSD being present. We’ll have to face all of these issues in the very near future.

Earlier this week Molly went to see the cardiologist and she gave her the go-ahead to have the tubes put in her ears. However, she also reminded us of all the information I outlined above. When Molly goes back in March for her evaluation, we’re going to need to start thinking about follow-up surgeries for her heart. For now, though, she continues to do quite well; she feels good; she looks good; she’s happy.

And yes, obviously, so are we.