I have to admit last week was a pretty rough week between the funeral and Mackenzie breaking his collar bone. He was playing football at school during lunch break and it was just the way he fell, the bone snapped. He is doing much better although he is still in quite a bit of pain. He is back in school but only going half days.
So on Wednesday he broke his collar bone and then Thursday morning he had his yearly check up with cardiology. Three years ago he was diagnosed with a heart condition. A first degree heart block and mitral valve prolapse. This was caused by an undiagnosed strep throat infection. At the time we were told that it was something that we would need to keep an eye on and that some point he would probably need a pacemaker and a valve replacement but most likely not until he was much older, like in his 50's or 60's.
In all honesty these yearly checks had become really routine for me. Go in, Mack gets an ECG, meet with the Dr. and be told everything's fine, see you next year. Thursday morning? Yeah, not so much. His heart rate is now 35. He has progressed to second degree heart block. They recommend a pacemaker when the heart rate is below 50. But Mack is completely asymptomatic of such a low heart rate, most likely due to being in such good physical shape, so they would like to wait as long as possible before putting in the pacemaker. The Dr. wanted to send Mack home with a Holter monitor, which is like a portable ECG that is worn for 24 hours, but because of his collar bone we are going to wait until the end of May to do that. They are concerned about how low his heart rate may be going when he is sleeping. If it is not much lower than his awake heart rate we may be able to put off the pacemaker for another year or so, otherwise he will need a pacemaker in the next few months.
I am having a very hard time coming to terms with all of this. On one hand I am extremely grateful that there is a treatment plan for this but on the other I am devastated that my 11 year old son will be dependent on a piece of machinery to keep his heart going for the rest of his life.
Now we just wait and see.
Triumphant return
9 minutes ago
3 comments:
Wow! I am so sorry to hear that! How very scary for all of you! I pray his collar bone heals quickly so that they can get his heart monitored and have a definate plan of action for you! Things must have progressed rather quickly then if the appointment went as normal last year! Thank the Lord you all now know and can keep an eye on things!
{{hugs}} and many, many prayers!
That is really crappy. And scary. Medical issues suck, but then put them on our kids and it is a million times harder. Will he still be able to play hockey if he has to get the pace maker? How does his heart rate affect his daily living, like with drowsiness, attention, focusing, etc.? I am wondering because is that something you can monitor until May, like you can tell by physically watching him? I understand they are more interested in the night sleep, so that may not matter so much anyway. Well, good luck with all that, and tell him we are all rooting for him to get better quickly!
BUT ALSO your son will for ever have a GREAT heart.... there will be no SUPRISES as far as his heart goes... they will have a BIG heads up on his life....
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