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Thursday, August 29, 2013
And the not-so fun part...
During our beach trip, we had a little incident that led to a trip to the Emergency Room and to us finding out that Elon has a heart condition called WPW (Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome). We went to the ER because she was getting sick in the morning, would seem to get better, but then would get sick again the next morning. I started to get concerned about dehydration (she had also said that she was swallowing the pool water from the salt water pool- that's not good).
Something just did not seem right.
So I plopped her in the car and took her.
We were taken right back and the first thing they found out was her heart rate was 245 beats per minute! And then Elon started complaining that her heart was hurting (this was the first time she had said that). At first, I did not realize how FAST that really was...the doctor was immediately concerned (as well as every nurse that walked past our room and saw her monitor reading 245). He was not sure that dehydration was the cause. He told me that dehydration can cause your heart to beat faster but not usually that fast. He wanted to do blook work, get an IV for fluids, X-rays, and an EKG right away. The IV was a challenge to say the least....after 8 try's the foot was the only vein they could get. Elon was such a champ....of course, she did not want them poking her and digging to find veins but no one had to hold her down. She held completely still. I was amazed, she cried but laid completely still!
It really broke my heart.
Once the blood work came back, it was confirmed that dehydration was not the culprit. There was another cause to what was going on. The ER doctor was communicating with a Pediatric Cardiologist and a Pediatric Electrophysiologist at MUSC. They read the EKG and advised the ER doctor to get her heart rate to slow down. To do this they had to do another IV.... in her neck! Yikes!!! The medicine given to slow down your heart rate reacts quickly, they could not put it in the IV in her leg because the medicine would never make it to her heart.
Here we go again....
Once again, she laid completely still, no one had to hold her down, even though there were plenty of people there that could have...at least 10 people in her room at this time. It did not seem real.
Her heart rate went from 245 to 112 in less then 5 seconds...amazing. She konked out after that!
The doctors put her on a medicine to keep the SVT (Supra-ventricular Tachycardia) or fast heart rate episodes from occurring again. ER doctor advised us to end our trip and head back home to see a Pediatric Electrophysiologist before we did anything else. He actually called and set up an appointment for us the following Monday.....
She doesn't look too worried, does she???? :)
After a lot of testing....
The doctor has recommended that she have surgery. Due to the fact that Elon is already showing symptoms, most people with this condition start to show signs during adolescence to early 20's, and the fact that her SVT episode did not stop on it's own, and most likely was going on for 2 1/2 days, this looks to be smartest solution for her. If untreated, she would be restricted in her sports in high school and college years AND she would be high risk for Atrial fibrillation.
Why wouldn't we do the surgery???
This surgery is one of the few that can permanently correct the heart rhythm problems. It will be done through a heart catheter ablation. With her condition she has an extra electrical pathway in her heart (you should only have one), through the catheter they will locate the extra pathway and then "clip" the extra pathway, this will stop the SVT's. The doctor will also do some testing on her heart once they get in there to try to learn more.
The catheter is done through the leg and she will only have to spend one night in the hospital.
So, this is what Elon picked out as her reward for being such a tough cookie!!!
Yes, my daughter wants to be a firefighter...not really what I imagined :)
Elon's surgery is set for September 4th...that's next week! They have allotted 3 1/2 hours for her surgery, I think this will be the hardest part, I am hoping it will not take that long. Please
pray for her and the surgeon. She seems fine but she also has A LOT of questions. As mom & dad, we are also doing fine...We have seen children go through much, much tougher things... having perspective can keep your anxiety level down a good bit :)
And, we know who is in control.
We are so thankful that this has been found and that there is a surgery that can "fix" it.
Please keep our little Elon in your prayers over the next week!
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10 comments:
Praying for your sweet girl!!!
We will be praying!
Deidre and Savanna and family
We are praying for Elon and all of you!! Sending you hugs!
Love, The Whitsett's
Praying for your precious girl!
How scary! Been down this road, but with a different heart condition. Praying for a full healing. So glad you listened to your heart and took her to the ER. I think many people would have brushed this off. Hugs from Atlanta!
Praying for your little girl and your entire family..
Praying for Elon and the family.
Hi Dawn, I have been following your blog for a long time and just haven't ever commented. I keep meaning to say hi b/c I live in Charlotte. Anyway, just read this post and wanted you to know that I will be praying for Elon. I am 2 months home with my new daughter and she has a he.art cath scheduled the week after Elon's. Best of luck to you all.
Praying that all is well with Elon after her surgery!! Let us know how she is when you have a moment.
Hi Dawn, Just wondering how Elon's surgery went? Hope all is well:)
Janice
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