GREAT NEWS TODAY!

It was a terrific day in Boston ... so terrific that I virtually am at a loss of words. Thank you to everyone for support, prayers, hugs, and encouragement that have gotten us through this week! (And extra special thanks to Jennie and Emma for taking on Jamie all day so we could focus on Annie while we were in Boston. Thank you so much, Jennie!) We are happy to have good news to report back to everyone.

Normal. Annie's Ejection Fraction (percentage of blood in the left ventricle that is pumped out to the body with each compression of the muscle) has entered the normal range. Her EF has been as low as 28%, but today it was measured at FIFTY-SIX PERCENT!!!! It was INCREDIBLE news since the normal range for EF at Annie's age is anywhere from approx. 50% - 70%. This is the first time any of the heart measurements they take (size of the heart, ejection fraction, shortening fraction, etc.) has fallen into the normal range. (The doctor reviewing and finalizing her echo report actually paged Dr. Smoot while we were still in with her going over the preliminary reports. He wanted to know what Dr. Smoot's secret for Annie's drastic improvement was! His input also meant that we could consider the numbers as finalized and not just preliminary.)

All of the other measurements that they took during Annie's echo also improved and continued to trend towards the normal range. Dr. Smoot was very happy all the way around and moved us officially from "cautiously optimistic" to "justifiably optimistic." Kids have trended this way in the past, only to lose some function later -- so we are by no means out of the woods. However, Dr. Smoot is encouraged by what she has seen over the past several months and told us that Annie's age is further reason to feel optimistic. She said that many dynamic things happen with children's hearts in the first year, and they can do amazing things. The fact that Annie has trended upward and gone through all of this in the first year of her life is actually a positive sign in the world of cardiomyopathy!

More great words to hear: Annie's diagnosis will no longer include "Failure to Thrive" because it no longer applies to her. (Dr. Smoot kept calling her 'Fatso' today and oohing over her big belly. Who would have ever thought we would see that day?!?) Dr. Smoot also said that medically speaking, nothing can be 'blamed' on her cardiac function at this point. Her heart function is NORMAL, so it won't be considered the basis for anything else that goes on with her (but let's just assume nothing else is going to go on with her, thank you very much).

Annie was a charmer throughout, acting as official greeter in Children's lobby by waving at each and every person who walked past us for an hour or so. She was squiggly for the echo, but they were still able to get all of the measurements they needed as well as the images necessary for the study Annie is enrolled in. She was all smiles for Dr. Smoot, as Dr. Smoot tried to chase her around the examination table to examine her. Not even the news that we needed to do a blood draw could phase us today! Annie was a little put out with having her arm restrained, but forgave everyone as soon as a sticker was proffered.

And now I am going to collapse and sleep the sleep of the VERY RELIEVED MAMA, snuggled between my two girls. Thank you again, everyone who has asked about today and offered their words of support. It is wonderful to be able to share some good news. Happy, happy weekend, everyone! And, oh what a party we are going to have on November 3!!!!