Care4Conway: Ablation

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Ablation

The doctors are finished. The ablation went well. I'll let Erin explain it in more depth on her next post as she's so much better at it than I am. Surgery is on for 7:30 am CST tomorrow. Dr. Bove will finish up a few loose ends regarding the ablation, but it will add very little to the time Conway's on bypass, which is GREAT. Erin is now with Conway as he recovers. Pray for a good night's rest before the big day tomorrow. God bless all of you, the support we've received has been nothing less than remarkable!
Greg.

14 comments:

The Magill Family said...: keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers!!; August 26, 2009 at 9:05 PM
Lisa P said...: Oh, I'm SO relieved that everything went well!! I have been sitting here at my computer working for like an hour REFRESHING your page every five minutes to see if there is an update!! What a blessing that Mr. C. went back into flutter and they were able to trace where it was coming from - even as uncomfortable as it was for him. You guys will ALL be close to my heart tomorrow as your morning begins, and of course throughout the day. I know there's a lot of goodness and positive energy out there with all the prayers and happy wishes...I know you all can feel it! I'll be tuned in closely all day tomorrow! Please call me if you need me...or just need to talk through some of the day...; August 26, 2009 at 9:07 PM
Diane A. said...: I am glad it went well. Praying for your family and for Dr. Bove. He is a great surgeon.

Hope you can get some sleep tonight.

Diane Avink
Fellow Heart Mom; August 26, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Unknown said...: So thankful for this update!

Continuing to pray for ya'll~

Lisa
(L-TGA Yahoo); August 26, 2009 at 9:21 PM
krissy ringo said...: hey girlie!!! looks like we are both praying for our kiddos in the morning... matthew has his fontan at 830 central. praying that conway is able to tolerate all the drugs and all that the surgery entails. i need to catch up! sleep well my heart friend

krissy ringo
carepage: matthewzak; August 26, 2009 at 9:47 PM
Yvonne Mallon said...: What great news!! We have been anxiously awaiting to hear some good news!! I am here for you all if you need anything. I will keep my cell phone close if you would like to call to talk or need some distraction.

Take care and Connie continues to be in our thoughts and prayers and sending all good vibes your way!!

Yvonne; August 26, 2009 at 10:17 PM
miareese said...: Prayers, hugs and love for Connie and all!!! Love Donna and Paul; August 26, 2009 at 10:45 PM
Annie Whitelaw said...: Thank you both so much for the constant updates and please know that I will be doing nothing but praying all night for Conway to have a great nights sleep and for everything to go as smooth and as successful as possible tomorrow.; August 26, 2009 at 10:46 PM
stove said...: So glad that they were able to do the ablation! I will be thinking of and praying for Conway tomorrow. He's in great hands!

Heart Hugs,
Steph (L-TGA group); August 26, 2009 at 11:07 PM
Krissy said...: So happy to hear the albation went well! Our prayers and thoughts are with you tomorrow morning. Stay strong, guys!

Krissy LaPres
www.sofineedsaheart.com; August 26, 2009 at 11:35 PM
Donna Beckemeier said...: Praying all day today.
We love you all.
Donna and Paul; August 27, 2009 at 5:57 AM
Paula S said...: Hello Greg, Erin and Connie,

I humbly pray for Gods' grace for Connie, strength for you and Erin and wisdom and knowledge for Connie's surgeons and caregivers.
I ask that he wrap his arms around you all and keep you in his tender care. I ask all this in his precious son, Jesus, name.

My family and I will keep you in our prayers and I will ask for prayer from my church(Pine Grove Baptist) on Sunday. He is such a beautiful little boy and I just know he will bounce back.

Paula Strunk
Country Inn & Suites
Clinton, Tn.; August 27, 2009 at 8:04 AM
Sue and Kenny said...: My prayers are with Conway and your entire family! Although we have never met, I can see what an adorable little blessing your son is and that he is surrounded by love. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery! God Bless! ~Sue from Iowa; August 27, 2009 at 8:17 AM
Anonymous said...: Greg, I forwarded your email to all of the girls in the office. We will all be praying for Conway & your family!; August 27, 2009 at 8:47 AM

Conway's Heart Story

Conway's Heart Story

Conway David Beckemeier was born on March 3, 2007. His heart defects went undetected during pregnancy and he was diagnosed at two days of age with L-TGA, a large VSD, sub pulmonic stenosis and Ebstein’s Anomaly. Just before turning six months of age, he underwent open heart surgery to reroute the bloodflow in his heart. Called the "double switch", this procedure is the most technically challenging for pediatric cardio-thoracic surgeons to perform. The version of the double switch that Conway received on 8/28/07 was called the Rastelli-Senning with VSD closure and sub pulmonic resection. He suffered a grand mal seizure following the surgery that lasted over an hour and had several other post-op setbacks including surgical heart block, which required another operation on 9/18/07 to insert a pacemaker. Following surgery and such a long hospital stay, Conway developed an oral aversion (he would not eat) and he was 100% NG tube fed for eight months. He also lost muscle tone and required both physical and occupational therapies. In April 2008, he had a cardiac cath and attempted balloon angioplasty on his pulmonary arteries that did not work. Although his recovery was very long, he had a solid year or so of being a "normal" kid . Then in May of 2009, it was discovered that Conway was having rhythm disturbances, specifically atrial flutter. His pacemaker allowed it to go undetected for several weeks until he showed signs of heart failure and was admitted to the ICU for a week to be placed on IV heart meds and undergo cardioversion on 5/6/09. He went home and his heart function started recovering when he had another episode of flutter (6/16/09). This time, he was again hospitalized and put on IV milrinone, but he converted back to normal sinus rhythm by himself. At that time he was placed on the anti-arrhythmia drug, amiodarone. On 7/22/09 he had to be cardioverted again for yet another episode of flutter. The following week, he got worse instead of better. His cardiologist did a full work up and it was determined that his aortic, mitral and tricuspid valves were all leaking worse and were felt to be the cause of his heart failure. On 8/24/09 he had a cardiac cath and attempted ablation. The electrophysiologist was unable to induce a single arrhythmia. Then, just two days later, he went into atrial flutter on his own. He was placed back in the cath lab where he underwent mapping and a total of 17 burns were made to try to knock out his arrhythmias for good. The next day, 8/27/09, he had his second open heart surgery to repair his mitral valve called ring annuloplasty. He also had a partial Maze procedure done. His surgeries are performed at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). This time he was discharged just six days later! His Left Ventricular function improved drastically. In December 2010 we noticed he began getting more winded during physical activity. A January 2011 cath showed that he is outgrowing his RV-PA gortex conduit, but he was not symptomatic enough to warrant intervention. In April 2012 Conway’s fatigue increased and an echo at the end of May revealed that the ratio between the right and left sided pressures has gotten too high and it is time to replace the homograft that was placed when he was five months old. He had a cardiac cath on 5/25/12 which confirmed the echo findings. He had surgery on 8/8/12 to replace his pulmonary valve and RV-PA conduit, add an additional pacing wire to his left ventricle, and change his generator to a bi-ventricular model which is shown to preserve function and help the heart muscle pump more efficiently/effectively.