The Heart Doctor

Tuesday Ethan had his one year check up with his cardiologist, Dr Quinones in Clear Lake. Yes, I definitely had to mention him by name because he is truly amazing and he deserves to be recognized for his great work! Dr. Q really seems to love his job, and Ethan isn’t just some Downs baby, or Downs syndrome kid, to him Ethan is a little boy with Trisomy 21!

Back tracking a year back, Dr. Quinones was the cardiologist that seen Ethan shortly after birth when a heart murmur was thought to have been heard. Dr. Quinones was the ONE doctor (while in the hospital) to fill us up with hope of all the great things that our son would be able to do. He walked in that room as I laid with an epidural still in my back and Sammy nervously sitting next to me. Our world had just been shaken and fallen out of alignment  just hours ago. Not knowing what to expect or what to feel, we waited for what he had to say. He told us about how feisty and strong our little boy was, and the set of lungs on that boy.. ahh, I should have known then that that was just part of his personality.  He talked to us about persistence and believing in him, and to just be on top of Ethan. This man was right on the money, but I don’t think we knew that then. Looking back now, I see what he was saying. Down syndrome was not going to define Ethan. He shared his experience about a girl he knew back home in Illinois who worked in a bank and I think he really was just trying to say, “look Mom and Dad, Ethan will be FINE and he can do anything, just believe in him”.

It was the first “pep talk” we had, and I thank God for this man.  Things were pretty gloomy for us, and he definitely shed some light into our hearts. This heart doctor… he was helping mend our hearts as well. 

(Stay tune for the next post! The technical heart stuff to be explained!)