I appreciate everyone’s prayers and kind words! It has been a tremendous encouragement to me.
Yesterday Maddox had an appointment with the pediatric cardiologist. Some of you saw a couple weeks ago I took him to the ER due to a rapid heartbeat and chest pains. At that point he was diagnosed with Wolff Parkinson White syndrome, a specific electrical pattern QUITE CLEAR on any EKG/ECG. The simplest way of explaining it is that he as an extra electrical pathway in his heart that can cause shortness of breath, lightheadedness, fainting, SVT (rapid heartrate), palpitations, stroke, diseased heart from overwork, and sudden cardiac death.
Many people are asymptomatic. This condition often results in teen athletes dropping dead suddenly when they start playing sports. Maddox has had shortness of breath, lightheadedness, fainting, palpitations and SVT. Having symptoms (and every time without provocation- he is at rest when they occur) puts him in a higher risk category that requires surgery very soon. Medicine was not even discussed.
Surgery is considered minimally invasive and very low risk. What is done is called “catheter ablation” or “cardiac ablation” which is using a catheter in the heart to send a radio frequency into the offending electrical pathway to destroy it. There are 3 distinct locations it could be in, and they won’t know until they are 2 hours into the procedure. They will stimulate an episode of SVT to find the pathway. Once located, they will ablate the pathway, and then stimulate the heart again (attempt another SVT event) to make sure it was successful. The biggest risk is if the extra pathway is in the center, which is located very near the tissue that stimulates a normal heartbeat. A mistake here would ablate the regular pathway which would require a pacemaker to keep his heart beating. This procedure takes about 4-5 hours and requires an overnight stay to monitor before going home.
I have heard many stories from friends who have reached out to me in the last couple of weeks about how simple the procedure was and how the problem was corrected without reoccurrence. That being said, any procedure is not without risk, and given Maddox’s history with medical interventions I am nervous about any medical interventions, although the benefits far outweigh any risks. He has suffered arthus reaction, anaphylactic reaction, and rapid heartbeat in relation to all separate medical procedures or even unknown irritants. This makes him a higher risk for a “simple” procedure. It’s a lot for a mama bear to take in! I don’t like to dwell on worst case scenarios, but they do need to be thought through and considered.
So here is our plan of action:
- He has an appointment Monday with an MD homeopath. This is the only thing in the world I can think of that has even the slightest chance of correcting his electrical pathway without surgery. And the chance is slight. This doctor told me very directly that if he is unable to correct it with homeopathic treatment very quickly, surgery is NEEDED. I agree. I am also very thankful to be working with a homeopath with the prospect of surgery on the horizon, as homeopathic support through surgery is so helpful for faster healing of the body.
- I am waiting to hear from the cardiac surgeon to schedule with them. Most parents meet with the surgeon the day of the procedure. What the what? I think that’s insane. My hope is to meet the surgeon and then have the procedure another day.
Our family has also recently had our eyes opened to the devastation of the loss of a child, as Korbin’s friend from childhood recently passed due to a heart condition. It is unthinkable that these things happen. My heart hurts for their profound loss. But those parents spoke out and said to their friends to PAY ATTENTION to those symptoms that seem insignificant. That made a difference for me.
I am thankful for everyone’s prayers and encouragement, as well as the symptoms Maddox has had as a warning for us to heed. One other very interesting thing that happened this spring was that I was completely overwhelmed with my schedule and could not make time for Maddox and Korbin to run track. I felt GUILTY about that! And now I am reassured that Maddox was being protected.
