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Brock Matthew Waggoner 
 
Brock was born April 5, 2003. At 4 months old his pediatrician found a heart murmur. We went to see a cardiologist. Dr.McMahon did an echocardiogram and found his right ventricle to be enlarged with really thick muscle. We went for an angiogram on Sept. 9, 2003 at UAB. Dr.McMahon could not get the catheter to feed through and his pressures in the right ventricle were getting higher. Brock had his first open heart surgery on Sept. 11, 2003. When Dr.Pacifico opened Brock up, he found a huge tumor inside the right ventricle out flow track at the pulmonary valve. He removed as much as possible. Brock was diagnosed with an Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor of the right ventricle. It is very rare to find tumors inside the heart. There are only a couple of known cases of this kind. Treatment is unknown. Within three weeks we started to see regrowth on the echocardiogram. On November 6, 2003 Brock had his second open heart surgery. The tumor had filled 2/3 of the ventricle. Dr. Pacifico again removed as much as possible without damaging the walls of the heart. Two weeks later Brock began Chemotherapy at Children's Hospital and was placed on the Heart Transplant list. In June 2004 Brock was placed on the inactive status of the heart transplant list. We are not accepting a heart unless we see new growth on his tumor. The residual tumor in his heart is not causing any complications at this time. Brock is facing another open heart surgery in the near future to fix his Tricuspid valve. He has Tricuspid Regurgitation due to his valve not working properly. Some of the blood is pooling back into his liver. We are watching this closely. Brock finished one year of Chemotherapy in November 2004. Brock had his third open heart surgery on Nov. 6, 2006. His tricuspid valve was replaced with a pig's valve by Dr.Knott-Craig. Brock is expected to get 6-10 years use out of this valve. Also, the surgeon did not see any evidence of any remaining tumor in the heart. Brock is cancer free! In June 2008 Brock was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. We are presently learning to deal with this lifestyle change. He is coping well with it. But, it is really tough being a 5 year old with so many restrictions.
 
BROCK WEARING HIS GOLD RIBBON THAT REPRESENTS CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS
BROCK AND MOMMY AT KANDLES FOR KIDS. BROCK'S CANDLE BURNING FOR OUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.
Journal
Friday, August 15, 2008 10:23 AM CDT I guess I am overdue for an update. Does anyone even read these journal's anymore???
So, we were busy bee's enjoying the last 6 weeks of summer before Tinley started 1st grade. We had a visit from my godchild. We took her to Six Flag's in Georgia and Alabama Adventure. The kid's had a blast. Of course I had to pack food for Brock to bring into the parks. They didn't give us any trouble bringing stuff in. Tinley had her endoscopy done at the end of July. The biopsies came back that there is an area of concern. Not sure what that mean's. She will see the GI doctor on the 27th. I'm praying that it is not Celiac. Hopefully, it is just damage from her reflux. Brock went to the Cardiologist on Tuesday. His valve is still holding up pretty good. The right atrium is still enlarged. The cardiologist thought it would have gone down by now. But, now he is not too sure. The EKG showed that his PAC's(pre atrial contraction's) are more frequent. So, he put Brock on a heart medication (Digoxin) that he has to take daily. I also need to continue to monitor his heart rate. Also, we are working on trying to get him to understand when his body is tired he needs to take a break for a few minutes.
They are going to retest his EKG in 4 weeks to see if the medication is helping. Tinley started first grade yesterday. It was her first day at the big school. She did great. She said she loved it. She woke up at 6 am yesterday and today on her own. Tinley and Brock will both start soccer practice on Monday. Also, Tinley just started Daisy Girl Scouts. Daisy's is for kindergarten and first grader's. They are so cute! Well, I'm gonna go spend some time with Brock. Tinley is at school right now. He is missing her bunches! I'll update again after the kids see the GI doctor on the 27th.
Till next time.........
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Hospital Information: Brock's Home!!!
Trussville, AL
Links: http://quiltsoflove.com/quilt_2004/brockw/brock.html Brock's Quilt Of Love
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