Care4Conway: Typical Toddler Stuff and then some

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Typical Toddler Stuff and then some

Connie didn't have any appetite this morning or at lunch. Greg and I started to worry, thinking that something might be going on with his heart. The appetite has been a tell tale sign all summer. After his nap, he ate two bags of lay's potato chips and most of a cereal bar. Now he's finishing up a hot dog with the bun and some chocolate milk. Guess he's just being picky!

We saw Dr. Bradley (EP) while we were in the playroom and he said Connie needs to be interrogated again tomorrow since they made some changes to his pacer. He said that his atrial lead "isn't as good" as it was when we came in. Sometimes surgery can do that. I asked if that meant we had to have another surgery to replace the lead and he said he isn't sure yet. He just wants to interrogate it first and then maybe we can just wait and see.

We ran into Dr. Bove in the hall on the way to the Med Inn and he asked if Connie has had his echo yet. I said no, that it was scheduled for tomorrow. I said, I'll be interested to see what's going on with that left ventricle. He said, "You and me both."

Please pray that Connie's atrial lead to his pacemaker is secure and working efficiently and does not need to be replaced. Replacing it would require opening the chest again. Also pray that the tubes have stopped draining enough to be pulled tomorrow and we can proceed with getting home.

2 comments:

Donna Beckemeier said...: We won't even go there about the leads. Let's just think of going home. Prayers for continued improvement and NO setbacks!; September 1, 2009 at 6:16 PM
Unknown said...: I agree with the previous comment! 'No setbacks' prayers going up now for Connie!; September 1, 2009 at 7:42 PM

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.