MRI results

Tyson’s MRI results are in and the news isn’t as good as we had hoped.  We’re still trying to process what it all means exactly, and the news comes as a bit of a shock to us considering Tyson has been doing so well.

There are two significant changes from his last MRI to this one.  

First, there is more narrowing in his left pulmonary veins and his left pulmonary artery.  As a result, he has even less blood flow going into and coming out of his left lung than before.  His last MRI indicated a blood flow percentage of 18% from his left lung.  (Most healthy lungs have 45-55% blood flow.)  Tyson’s lung now has even less flow than that and with minimal drainage. When comparing the speed of blood flow between his right veins to his left veins, the blood flowing from his right pulmonary veins (his healthy lung) flow 8-10 times faster than the blood from his left lung. 

Secondly, the function of his heart has deteriorated some.  The doctors diagnose this by measuring the ventricle’s “ejection fraction.”  Ejection Fraction determines how well your heart pumps blood with each beat.  Most healthy hearts will have a left ventricular ejection fraction of 55-75% (because the left ventricle does most of the heart’s pumping) and you would be considered in heart failure if it got down to 40% or under.  With Tyson’s heart, because of the Tricuspid Atresia and Hypoplastic Right Ventricle, the left ventricle is the only ventricle that pumps so it would have an ejection fraction of about 60% at best.  Tyson’s heart is 47%, down from 57% on his last MRI.  This is a significant drop, not enough to consider him in heart failure, but enough that his function changed from ‘normal’ to ‘borderline.’   

So what’s next?  Tyson has another ECHO and appointment with his cardiologist again in November, at which time Dr McCrindle will have had ample time to discuss the findings with his team and decide what to do next.  When I asked him about how close we are to transplant, he said “we’re still a ways away.”  We are very thankful to hear that!  But the possibility of another surgery is not entirely out of the question.   He will have another MRI in 9-12 months, as long as he is relatively asymptomatic.

We are trying not to let this news get us down, knowing that sometimes we have to look past the test results and just enjoy the life that we see right in front of our eyes. He is super healthy right now, is LOVING Kindergarten, his antics make me laugh every single day (and sometimes his antics make me holler too!)  and we haven’t seen a decrease in his energy levels compared to before.   So we will keep our chins up and keep praising God for his goodness in Tyson’s life!

As always, we appreciate your prayers. 

Brian and Melissa and family