Heartsick

 Oh my do I ever have a story to tell...this may be a long post...

It all began on Wednesday morning when Bridger woke up looking tired and his throat was hoarse. I felt his head and it was not hot so we talked about if he should stay home from school or not.  I wanted to keep him with me but he has already missed 4 days this year for ear aches or not feeling well and I worried about keeping him home too much.  He said he thought he could go, so I sent him to school with some cough drops in a bag and a note for his teacher.  I told her he seemed tired and was losing his voice, that he may be getting sick.  Would she call me if he seemed worse and I would come and get him.  Well around 10 she called to say that he just didn't seem well.  He did not have a fever but she was worried about him.  She said she could tell that he was not feeling very good.  I AM SO THANKFUL for this sweet, caring teacher! Mrs Devaney was our first angel of the day. I love her:) 

 I brought him home and put him in some jammies and was about to set him up with blankets on the couch for a movie when I thought maybe he was a bit wheezy and when I hugged him I could feel his heart beating so hard.  I wasn't really worried but my first thought was croup and a fever was coming on (my kiids always have fast heart rates when fevering)--and knowing that it gets worse at night, I decided to take him to an instacare close to my house.  Once again I feel like we were watched over and protected. The PA (another angel) was so careful and thorough.  She noticed his heart seemed to be fast--and said "oh Mom he may not have a fever now, but I think it is coming on fast, his heart is really beating!"  She could have just sent us home with some medicine but she had her nurse get him some ibuprofen and checked his heart again after awhile. She ended up getting out the EKG machine --which is what is pictured above to test further.  All the while she is being so professional, I wasn't worried or stressed at all.  I honestly thought they must be really slow today and bored.  I took a picture to show him how cool it looked--to try and cheer him up.  When the PA working the machine could see the results from the EKG  she kind of freaked out. She said something about needles and being really sick and that she was calling an ambulance right now because he needed to be at the ER immediately . This made Bridger cry and I was kind of mad.
I still thought she is just over reacting and making his heart rate climb with saying that.  While we waited a few minutes for the ambulance he was on my lap and his heart seemed to be not as fast. I was thinking that this was a little silly to call an ambulance. As they loaded him in,  I took this little picture of my sweet boy so later he could show his brothers.  When the ambulance doors closed, I told the paramedics that I really wasn't sure this was necessary and that I thought the PA over reacted.  I explained how she had mentioned needles and how I was pretty sure that is what made his heart rate spike.  So they kindly listened to me while they hooked him up to the monitors and told me they would see what was going on. At first the numbers were normal --89...90 and then they just started climbing when his heart rate hit 248 they very calmly told me that yes they really did think it was a good idea to take him now.  I was still just feeling so confused and maybe that was good because I was able to stay calm for Bridger.

 They started an IV in the ambulance and soon we were at the ER at TC Thompsons Children's hospital in downtown Chattanooga.  I had learned on the ride over that his heartbeat should be around 80-100 beats a minute but his was climbing up over 220 (this is called SVT SupraventicularTachycardia)  He was going up as high as 268 and when the paramedic asked him if his heart hurt or felt funny when it was peaking, he would say no!!  This was a little disturbing that he couldn't feel it.  When we got to the ER I was starting to worry, but still not really aware of how dangerous this was.  I think it was a blessing from heaven that I was able to be calm which I am sure was important for Bridger to feel that his Mom was not too worried. I know how children really pick up on the emotions of their parents. 

 To make a long story short...after a few hours, many different doctors, chest xrays, echo cardiograms, EKGs, blood work, urine samples, endless questions and different drugs...we were eventually admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.  His little heart was not just having an episode of SVT (fairly common) but would not kick out of it no matter what they did (very rare).  At this point they were just masking the problem with medication.

It was such a HUGE relief when Daddy got there.  He was at work over an hour away but came as quick as he could. ( By the time I took this picture he had been with us for hours)

Another EKG--what a trooper!

We spent a couple of LONG nights in the PICU.  I tell you , I really don't think I slept a wink.  With my sweet little boy hooked up to so many machines and all the beeping was truly a frightening place for a Momma.  I remember sitting there holding his little hand while he slept and my heart hurt so much I was sure it would break.

Another EKG~ I think he had a gazillion of these tests.  He was so brave, he kept wanting me to get a picture to show his brothers:)  I felt this sense of peace as I knew that he was in God's hands.  So many people were praying for him and he had received a priesthood blessing from his Daddy and our wonderful Bishop.  I really felt the spirit of God and His love for Bridger and me.  I knew He was aware of us and loved us. 

We soon found out that he had a dangerous heart condition called Persistent (permanent) Junctional Reciprocating Tachycardia (PJRT). .This is an unusual form of supra ventricular tachycardia (SVT) --in fact less than 1% of people with SVT have this form of the disorder.  While usually SVT  sufferers have episodes, Bridger's heart was now permanently in it.  Left untreated it would result in heart failure. It had  been a really frightening past few days. Even with the medication, his heart rate had been spiking to over 230 and then droping to 50-60 (It should be 80-100). They were trying to get it under control so that there would be no more damage to the heart and possibility of heart failure. I was told that once they stabilized the condition (control the arrhythmia) he would need a procedure called an ablation. This is when they would thread thin little wires up through a blood vessel in his groin and guide them into his heart. Then a machine sends energy to his heart via one of the catheters. The energy destroys small areas of heart tissue where abnormal heartbeats are causing an arrhythmia to begin. 

One great blessing is that the leading specialist in this area of cardiac medicine  (pediatric electrophysiology) in all of the U.S. is at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville (just a couple of hours away) so he had been consulting with Bridger's cardiologist and helped with the diagnosis and treatment. He will perform the surgery and our cardiologist kept telling us how lucky we are to have the BEST of the best doing this  procedure for Bridger.  I can't help but feel that Heavenly Father has been watching over this little guy. 

On Friday evening we were given the OK to leave the PICU for a regular room in the hospital. 

Bridger was so glad!  Happy day knowing there would be less cords and monitors attached now:)

He didn't get to lose the heart monitor though--in fact he had to carry that himself to his new room!  I think he may have had the worlds BEST nurses and Doctors in the PICU.  I felt like he was surrounded with such loving care.  I was so grateful.

In the regular room, his brothers were allowed to come for a visit and he was thrilled!  These brothers sure love this boy and had missed him like crazy!

After another night and more EKGs , echos and consultations with Drs he was allowed to go home until his surgery in about 10 days.  They trained me in how to check his heart rate and give him his medicine.  I am now nurse Mommy:)

We couldn't be happier to have our boy back home.  Brad and I brought his mattress down to our room where we can keep him close and easily give his middle of the night dosages.  He is feeling so good now that it is a little hard to keep him down.  ( I am not complaining) His cardiologists wants him to rest as much as possible and not go out in public where he could pick up an illness (no school or church etc).  They are hoping to improve his heart function before the procedure. 

I can not even describe my deep sense of gratitude for all the blessing and miracles I feel like we have experienced this last week.  Now I am content to watch over and care for my little one at home--trying to soak up and enjoy these quiet and slow days together.  I mean really, how often would I get all this one on one time to hang out with my usually busy 7 year old? He would normally spend his days off at school and playing outside, too busy to snuggle up reading books, playing games and chatting with his Mother.  That is definitely the silver lining in all of these dark clouds and I will take it:)