We have had a trying few weeks here, ugh. We all came down with a nasty strain of HERPES(!) that was passed on to us by a caregiver via another child. Simon and Andy were the worst hit but Ramona and I have been pretty run down too. This particular strain presented itself with strep-like symptoms, very sore throat, fever, etc. So we’ve just finished our second round of antivirals and are hoping to be 100% soon. Two crabby babies make for two worn out parents!

We have still not heard the complete immunology results. Her T-cell count is down from a year ago. They said the low end of normal is 3500. One year ago it was 3300, now it is about 2900. Not sure why this might be. We are now waiting for the complete results which will tell us how her T-cells are working. If they are functioning well, there may not be much cause for concern, we’ll just have to see.

Ramona had a follow-up appointment with cardiology today. It went well. Blood pressure, EKG looked good, she was satting at about 90. They were able to hear much more turbulence in the left pulmonary artery which is good news as this is the side that has been very small and difficult to hear. We will go back in September. It is possible that instead of a cath, she might have an MRI. This would allow them to do an MRI at the same time of her spine and avoid an incision. It would be done under general anesthesia and if they felt immediate cardiac intervention was required she could go right to the cath lab at that time.

Ramona also had an ultrasound of her kidneys this morning. I haven’t heard the results yet but feel pretty confident based on what I saw that we’re okay for now in that department. Ramona was a trooper. She watched Finding Nemo on my phone and ate a few donut holes and really only cried when she had to lay down to measure her height. She’s taking a good long nap now, she earned it.

Thanks for checking in. Here are a few pics. The first is Simon soothing his poor throat in typical Simon fashion. The second is Ramona in her bikini doing her new favorite thing: digging!

Hope you and yours are well, Jane.

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