Down Syndrome Clinic at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital

Down Syndrome Clinic at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital
Today was lil' PJ's appointment at the Down Syndrome Clinic, which is held every Thursday. I was so impressed with the level of care that our babies get here in Nashville. We were seen by a Speech Therapist, a Dietician, a Social Worker, a Physical Therapist, a Cardiologist, a Pediatrician and a Psychologist peeked in to say hello also.

PJ had an echocardiogram done (an ultrasound of the heart) and they did find a little bitty leak, which they call an Atrial Septal Defect. The Doctor assured us that his heart is strong, and he is a very healthy boy, and that many babies, of all developments have these, many are never dectected, but because they look so carefully at a down syndrome child's heart because of the high occurance of heart defects, they are often found in our babies. It's only 5mm in measurement, and it can't even be heard as a murmur, and he reassured me that 98 - 99% of cases resolve themselves within a short period of time. He says we'll re-do the echo in 3 months, and it will very likely be gone. If it doesn't go away on it's own, the dr. says that a surgery MAY be performed at around age 2, depending on PJ's overall health, but he really made it sound like that would not be the case.

PJ's weight is up to 6 pounds 10 ounces, so that's a total gain of 1 lb, 3.4 ounces since birth, in 3 weeks and 1 day. His color is good and nobody had any concerns with him overall. The time flew by, it wasnt boring or frustrating and there was no wait.

It was very educational. Oh. We even saw Sheila, the Director of the Down Syndrome Assoc. of Middle TN, who we met at the picnic early in the summer, so she got to see PJ for the first time.

I wonder how other cities compare in caring for our babies?

Hugs and love to all,
Kathy