Emily's check-up today at Riley went very well. The ejection fraction was 66%, which is a magnificent number indicating her heart has kept pace with her maturing body. Now that she is basically done growing, and know her heart is performing so well, we'll back off on annual EKG/Echos to one every two years. Surviving kidney still performs just fine, so we're left only with some residual radiation concerns of the sort you would expect with a mature female.

Two things we did to push for a better number this time (you can't fool the machine but you can make sure you're not underperforming): 1) good night's sleep; and 2) plenty of hydration (dehydrated means thicker blood means harder to eject). Last year Em scored 49%, just below the concern line of 50%. But--again--there's no fooling the machine, and her daily elliptical workouts seem to have her in good shape.

So the discussion shifted to things like making sure she gets the right follow-up in college a year from now.

And so we get to enjoy her senior year without any big clouds hanging over our heads.

And that is nice.

Thanks for the kind thoughts.