It's been about 2 and 1/4 years since JJ was born and had his open heart surgery. We've moved twice since then and are on our third pediatric cardiologist. Luckily he's doing great. He has no scar tissue buildup where his repair was made. His EKG and Echo both look amazing. You wouldn't even know he has a congenital heart defect if you met him. We are so thankful!
I would definitely say that one of the many stressors leading to my anxiety disorder was for sure his birth and surprise heart problems. That's a major stressor on anyone. Looking back I had headaches for months after and sleep issues that were definitely both signs of anxiety and stress.
Going to his doctor appointment today was hard. There isn't a pediatric cardiologist at our hospital on post so we go to a civilian doctor (thankfully). It was a 1.5 hour drive there. I can't make that drive by myself currently. I haven't worked back up to driving on the highway yet or even into town. I definitely feel some feelings of inadequacy because of this.
However, in very pleased with my anxiety levels today. We drove there and arrived quite a bit early. I was able to get some driving practice in belt the appointment from Dunkin Donuts to the doctors office about 5 miles down the road through many major traffic lights (3 lanes each direction). I haven't had much experience driving in those circumstances since moving here simply because those types of roads don't exist within a 45 minute radius. It went so well! Very low levels of anxiety driving. Also, relatively low levels of anxiety in his doctors appointment. I haven't done well at all with doctors appointments this whole year and was definitely not looking forward to it either but it went well also, but JJ is also a great distraction. Just a few hard minutes during the Echo where I used deep breathing to calm myself. I'd rate it at only about a 3/10 anxiety level.
Rewarded myself (and everyone) with In n Out for lunch!
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