Isaac's Hospital Stay

Isaac had on-and-off fevers all last week, so I scheduled an appointment at the pediatrician's for Monday morning on the 3rd. He had no fever on Sunday or Monday morning, so I figured it would be a routine follow-up. Dr. Cabotaje looked Isaac over and said that he lookedver fine. However, he said that his heart was beating very, very fast. His heart rate was around 200 and it should be around 100. He said that I should take Isaac to Children's Memorial Hospital Emergency Room right away.

At the ER, they checked Isaac's heart rate in triage and then took him back to a trauma room quickly. About 7 people flooded into the room and hooked him up to an EKG. They said that they needed to put ice packs on his face to stimulate a reaction that would slow down his heart. It was one of the worst things I had to watch. He was terrified, but it worked. His heart slowed down to a normal rate.

After some tests, the cardiologist explained to us that Isaac has Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW). He has an extra piece of tissue in his heart that causes a short-circuit. This makes him prone to episodes of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) or the fast heart rate. I guess the episodes aren't that big of a deal if they happen for a few hours or up to 6-8 hours or so. They can cause permanent heart damage if they last for days.

The plan was to put Isaac on a medication (propranolol) to slow his overall heart rate. This should make him less likely to go into SVT. Getting the right dose was difficult. We spent the week in the hospital increasing his dose. He had a procedure on Thursday (Nov 6) to test him. He didn't do so well, so we had to increase the dose further. Finally, we convinced them to let us go home on Friday and take care of Isaac at home. After taking turns sleeping at the hospital and keeping Isaac entertained, we all needed a break. We returned to CMH on Monday morning for a second chance at the test. Isaac did better, so we had an appropriate dose.

Now, we check Isaac's heart rate (with a stethoscope or just our ear to his chest) at least three times each day. He takes his medicine every 8 hours. So, we have to wake him at midnight for it. Luckily, he really likes the medicine and is learning to tolerate the heart rate checks. His daycare has been great. They give him his medication at 4pm (I still call to remind them) and check his heart rate once during the day.

Someday, Isaac will probably have a surgical ablation to correct the WPW. Then, he'll never have to worry about it again. We can't do the ablation until he's at least 4 or 5 years old, so for now, we keep using the medication.