In the midst of Christmas shopping and celebrations, Brady, Grandma and I went to Brady's cardiology appointment today. It was his follow-up echo from his cath last August. My favorite part of the whole day was a little girl walking around the waiting room with a tray in front of her, stopping at every single person and asking, "Would you like a cookie?" She then handed out an invisible cookie. I watched her walk around and every person played along with her -- I love when everyone comes together for a greater good.

And now for the reason why we were there: the short version of the story is that Brady will have heart surgery in February. The longer version is that ever since Brady was one month old, we knew surgery was in his future. His gradient keeps going up, and his cardiologist, Dr. Marx, was only waiting until he was older to have the surgery. He said that a few pounds difference isn't really going to matter, and he was waiting for that big sign to get this going -- which was his level going up again after a few months. Dr. Marx said that some other cardiologists would have probably already done the surgery, but he wanted to wait as long as possible. It is surgery that will --hopefully-- only be a one-time-thing.

The good news is that his cardiologist said that Brady will be fine for the surgery, he doesn't really have any worries for him. Dr. Marx is a very straight, honest man who doesn't say things just to make you feel better, so I feel very confident since he said that. The bad news (besides the obvious) is that we're looking at a seven to 10 day hospital stay -- ugh. Brady will take a few weeks to recuperate, but I'm already thinking of the pounds he'll probably lose after all our high-calorie work!

We should get a call over the next week or so to put the date on the calendar. I am feeling okay, as I trust his cardiologist and I see how well Brady is doing. One day at a time...