Who knows about Arrhythmia's in Children.

[Wally_Gator]

My 9 (read nine) year old son was diagnosed with a mild heart Arrhythmia two days ago. We are waiting on our visit with the specialist on Monday.
Can anyone who has experience shed any light on this?
A 9 year old boy shouldn't have to deal with this...
Thanks...

[riverbound]

Very sorry to hear that. I will keep you guys in my thoughts.

[Wally_Gator]

Thanks.. We are in the hurry up and wait phase.
I am sure it will be fine, Just where does the road take us.

[CandyA$$]

Just something, I found from a friend..
Heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias) occur when the electrical impulses in your heart that coordinate your heartbeats don't function properly, causing your heart to beat too fast, too slow or irregularly.
Arrhythmias are common and usually harmless. Most people have experienced these occasional, brief irregular heartbeats that feel like a skipped, fluttering or racing heartbeat. That's not surprising when you consider that your heart beats about 100,000 times a day, or more than 2.5 billion times during the average life span.
However, some heart arrhythmias may cause bothersome — sometimes even life-threatening — signs and symptoms.
Advances in medical technology have added new treatment methods to the procedures that doctors may use to try to control or eliminate arrhythmias. In addition, because troublesome arrhythmias are often made worse — or are even caused — by a weak or damaged heart, you may be able to reduce your arrhythmia risk by adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle.
Hope everything turns out to be mild.
Do a web search, there is alot of information out there.
I think my sister-in-law has something like that, I will ask her.

[Havasu_Dreamin]

Sorry to hear that. Link to American Heart Association. (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=560)

[Wally_Gator]

Thanks for the links...
I am looking more for the pediatric side of this. Everything has said that it could be from Mild to OMFG.
I believe it is a little higher than thje mild side but not the OMFG.
The specialist did move an appointment for him to come in on Monday, where he would have had to wait 3 weeks.

[moneypit]

Irregular heart beats are very common and are often asymptomatic. I perform physical examinations on many children every year. In my 10 years of practice, I have only had one child that had a condition worthy of further treatment.
Im sure the odds are on your childs side.
good luck though

[Wally_Gator]

Irregular heart beats are very common and are often asymptomatic. I perform physical examinations on many children every year. In my 10 years of practice, I have only had one child that had a condition worthy of further treatment.
Im sure the odds are on your childs side.
good luck though
Thanks for the positive side..
However more info may be warranted here.
4 hours in the E.R. for chest pain and dizziness.
Charted EKG of the arrhythmia of both fast and slow heartbeats
with skipped beats. As well as a slightly malformed sinus wave?
ER doc consulted with the Pediatric Cardiologist who suggested the referral.
Not to mention that they tried to diagnose him with Asthma prior to this and a whole regemine (sp?) of Asthma meds. I feel that the asthma meds may have exacerbated what may be a minor condition. He is no longer taking them.

[Tom Brown]

I think there is a clear roll for people up against tough health issues, that is to remain calm and not panic. Try to stay positive. If it was that critical, he would have been transferred to the ICU or admitted to a cardiac ward.
The people in the ER are professionals and have put you on the correct path. If you trust them, that will provide some comfort.
I've noticed a trend among cancer and cardiac patients that seems pretty clear. Those that remain positive seem to have a much better chance of survival. Try to look toward solutions, a healthy lifestyle, and the love you and your son share.
Also, you've got the entire ***boat community pulling for your son and your entire family.
:cool:

[Mrs_Wally_Gator]

I think there is a clear roll for people up against tough health issues, that is to remain calm and not panic. Try to stay positive. If it was that critical, he would have been transferred to the ICU or admitted to a cardiac ward.
The people in the ER are professionals and have put you on the correct path. If you trust them, that will provide some comfort.
I've noticed a trend among cancer and cardiac patients that seems pretty clear. Those that remain positive seem to have a much better chance of survival. Try to look toward solutions, a healthy lifestyle, and the love you and your son share.
Also, you've got the entire ***boat community pulling for your son and your entire family.
:cool:
Thank you all for your positive words and thoughts. I don't think it had completely set in that my son has a heart condition, however mild it may be, until I say all of your kind thoughts. Thank you all.

[Foxy99]

I work in the ER and here is some info for an F.Y.I.
Normal symptoms include fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness and fainting spells. Extreme episodes of rapid or slow heart rates can be life-threatening, but if that were the case your child would have been sent to ICU that evening. It is a good thing that ER doctor consulted with the Pediatric Cardiologist that night to get a referral. That shows that they want to take every precaution necessary as soon as possible for your child. Some procedures I have heard about for the pediatrics I listed below..
I hope this helps you..
You can eliminate many abnormal heart rhythms through two minimally invasive procedures - radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation. Because of their safety and effectiveness, pediatric electrophysiologists (cardiologists specializing in heart rhythm disorders) recommend radiofrequency ablation or cryoablation as the primary therapy for children ages 5 and older with rapid heart rates. They also recommend ablative therapy for children younger than 5 years of age if other treatments aren't working

[Wally_Gator]

Foxy...
What a mouthfull.... Thank you for the insight.
I try to be as informed as possible when I go into the Dr's office. So first hand experience here helps me to understand more.
Our oldest is the worry wart of the three and here I can do some research without him seeing the results. We are trying to get him back into the swing of things and worry free.
Apparently it is serious enough to keep him home from school for 2 days and to have followup calls from the Dr's. But then I believe that we have good Dr's looking after him.

[Silver]

Good thing on holding on the Asthma Meds.
Electrolytes are good?
Where do you live? My daughter has a fantastic Peds Cardio Doc.
My daughter had Kawasaki's...........and continue's care under a Cardio.
She is fine though.
Hang in there mom................she will be fine!

[Foxy99]

Foxy...
What a mouthfull.... Thank you for the insight.
I try to be as informed as possible when I go into the Dr's office. So first hand experience here helps me to understand more.
Our oldest is the worry wart of the three and here I can do some research without him seeing the results. We are trying to get him back into the swing of things and worry free.
Apparently it is serious enough to keep him home from school for 2 days and to have followup calls from the Dr's. But then I believe that we have good Dr's looking after him.
Yes I think I gave my self a headache with that last response.
The worst has already passed and that was finding out your child has a condition. Now all you can do is have faith and research read into it all to give yourself more understanding. It looks to me like you are doing a great job - keep it up.
The reason why they are keeping him home from school is because they know children. Children at the younger ages play and run around all day in school - which may cause an accelerated heartbeat to occur. Until they find out everything they will want you to keep an eye on him. Please do not worry about the follow ups and house calls they just want to make sure he is not over overworked and or in stressed any way.

[Wally_Gator]

Yes I think I gave my self a headache with that last response.
The worst has already passed and that was finding out your child has a condition. Now all you can do is have faith and research read into it all to give yourself more understanding. It looks to me like you are doing a great job - keep it up.
The reason why they are keeping him home from school is because they know children. Children at the younger ages play and run around all day in school - which may cause an accelerated heartbeat to occur. Until they find out everything they will want you to keep an eye on him. Please do not worry about the follow ups and house calls they just want to make sure he is not over overworked and or in stressed any way.
Have Faith?, We already have her... jk. Our daughter is named Faith..
But I attribute the calls to caring Doctors. They goofed and tried to label him as asthmatic a couple of months ago. I told them then that I didn't think so.
It just didn't ring true... Personally my gut tells me that he has an underlying infection that is the source of a range of symptoms. Plueretic (sp) pain.
Silver,
Apparently the only Peds Cardiologist in my area is in Upland. Otherwise I would go to O.C. or Out by Loma Linda..
I have already had to answer about 200 questions to the Dr's office before the visit.

[Silver]

That might be him Doctor Freddie Balgomer Upland, Ca
Phone.............909 981-6635
With San Antonio Com. Hosp.
Very long story about my daughter but it was Freddie that make the right call with her, that's way I trust him. He is also very soft and loving with his Pt's.............If you would like to talk more please feel free to pm me or e-mail me @ SexySilver.net
Prayers are with you, family and most of all Faith! BTW............one of my most favorite words in life.........................FAITH!

[essexjet]

Wally Gator I know a little about arrhythmia's. I am a paramedic and see it a lot out in the field. Arrhythmia are common, I have one. Arrhythmia means without rhythm, the letter A in medical means without. So your heart beat speeds up when you breath and slows down when you breath out. But I would deffinatley have a cardiologist look at your little girl.
Now, her visit to the ER was for difficulty in breathing and is that why they put her on asthma meds. Her arrythmia can be associated with the diff. breathing and a decrease in oxygen staturation but that is only one opinion. Hope everything go OK for her and please let us know what the Cardiologist says.

[beer truck]

I feel your pain, and wish you and your son well. My oldest son Nickolas, will be going in for his fourth open heart surgery on June 30th. His first was at two weeks old, and only 3.75 lbs. His second was at 3 months and 8 lbs., the third was at three years, now almost seven years later his fourth. He has had four angioplasties over the years that bought us the seven year. The doctors up here in Seattle at Childrens Hospital are like gods, and I have complete trust in their abilities. Children are strong and their ability to heal and overcome illness is much greater than adults, and I'm sure your son will be fine. Something that has allways helped me was whenever I am feeling sorry for myself, or son, is I remeber the many children I see at the hospital that are much worse off than my son, or whose quality of life is nonexistant, and I am thankful that he is still with us and is a happy boy. Thats all that really matters.

[Wally_Gator]

Silver,
Dr Balgomer is the Dr. we will be seeing on Monday. Thanks for the added referral. It is always good to hear positive things about the Dr. we are going to see..
Silver and Essex..
Sorry for the confusion.. My oldest son (9 Years old) was the one diagnosed with chest pain and arrhythmia. Not Faith... My reference to Faith earlier was that we already have Faith as a play on words. Faith is our healthy happy almost 2 year old.. She keeps us all smiling and on our toes...
Essexjet.. I have asked alot of questions and done a bit of research. My son has a very erratic heartbeat. Slow, fast and skips with what was described to me as a malformed wave on the EKG.. The visit to the ER was after he had already been diagnosed as Asthmatic 3 months ago. (to which I have never agreed) Follow ups with both my primary Dr. and the Allergist has confirmed that it was a wrong diagnosis. To add to that since he was put on the asthma regimine he has had more episodes of chest pain by a factor of 20...
My conversations with the DR's so far point to a consensus that some of the Asthma meds made the condition worse add to that anxiety of an attack could have made the condition even worse.
To that end, we are not taking any chances, we are keeping well informed and going to the specialist Monday at 2:30. All pre registration questions have been answered and I have done all the collecting and dropping off of films and reports. All Dr. Balguma needs now is my son to look at.
I appreciate the practical experience everyone has brought to the forum as it gives us footing to hold onto. An Er visit is only to determine if he was critical and you don't get a whole lot out of it other than that. Just waiting for the next step...

[Wally_Gator]

I feel your pain, and wish you and your son well. My oldest son Nickolas, will be going in for his fourth open heart surgery on June 30th. His first was at two weeks old, and only 3.75 lbs. His second was at 3 months and 8 lbs., the third was at three years, now almost seven years later his fourth. He has had four angioplasties over the years that bought us the seven year. The doctors up here in Seattle at Childrens Hospital are like gods, and I have complete trust in their abilities. Children are strong and their ability to heal and overcome illness is much greater than adults, and I'm sure your son will be fine. Something that has allways helped me was whenever I am feeling sorry for myself, or son, is I remeber the many children I see at the hospital that are much worse off than my son, or whose quality of life is nonexistant, and I am thankful that he is still with us and is a happy boy. Thats all that really matters.
Wow, I don't know what to say.. You have been through alot. Thanks for the well wishes....

[SHAKEN Not Stirred]

My 4 yearold girl has a Cardiomyopathy.....
She spent many months in Childrens Hospital LA.....
Doing great now.....
If you want the name of a good Pediatric Cardiologist....let me know....
He works out of St.Jo's in Orange.....
This guy brought my little princess back from the dead......Litterally....
Later,
CJG
:wink:

[ROZ]

Follow ups with both my primary Dr. and the Allergist has confirmed that it was a wrong diagnosis. To add to that since he was put on the asthma regimine he has had more episodes of chest pain by a factor of 20...
My conversations with the DR's so far point to a consensus that some of the Asthma meds made the condition worse add to that anxiety of an attack could have made the condition even worse.
Just want to say that we're all praying over here for your boy and your family.
I also want to add that a primary and an allergist aren't necessarily the ones to rule out any type of Asthma. Your cardiologist or a pulminologist(sp) would be he ones to help rule that out... Depending on the asthma medication and dosage perscribed, your son probably felt like jumping out of his skin... My wife, a Respritory Therapist, was diagnosed as a SEVERE chronic asthmatic about 10years ago. Eventhough we stuck to a regimin, we still were admitting her into the hospital 1 or 2x per year...She's been intubated a couple times and classified as status asthmaticus a couple times as well. Working with Dr. Bagheri at Grossmont Hospital in San Diego during the early years was a godsend. The man is brilliant. he helped us dial in the right meds, and we've been managing the disease pretty well. After our daughter was born years ago, her episodes dopped quite a bit. Hospital visits still happen from time to time, but not nearly as long or as bad during the infancy of her diagnosis. It's just a part of life. Sorry for the ramble... What I meant to get at is that I've seen how high dossages can make a person feel. Whenever my wife takes large quantities of prednisone(not very often) or is given solumedrol iv(hospital), she takes a little xanax to curb the gitters... Bth meds will make the heart race...
Like I said, life does go on... As a matter of fact, right now my wife is with a surgical team in Mexico assisting in surgery and offering medical care to the poverty sticken... We both try to do what we can both and abroad... well not too far,mex is my limit :)
Wally, you obviously have a lot of love and faith;) in your household. I'm confident you all will get through this just fine :)
Beer Truck, Your post really hit it on the head. Children are resilliant and create their own miricles daily. Reading your last 2 sentences tells me you're wise beyond your years. good luck to you and your family as well. Come back to give us an update on your boy sometime in July. :)
wow is it late!

[Mrs_Wally_Gator]

I feel your pain, and wish you and your son well. My oldest son Nickolas, will be going in for his fourth open heart surgery on June 30th. His first was at two weeks old, and only 3.75 lbs. His second was at 3 months and 8 lbs., the third was at three years, now almost seven years later his fourth. He has had four angioplasties over the years that bought us the seven year. The doctors up here in Seattle at Childrens Hospital are like gods, and I have complete trust in their abilities. Children are strong and their ability to heal and overcome illness is much greater than adults, and I'm sure your son will be fine. Something that has allways helped me was whenever I am feeling sorry for myself, or son, is I remeber the many children I see at the hospital that are much worse off than my son, or whose quality of life is nonexistant, and I am thankful that he is still with us and is a happy boy. Thats all that really matters.
Beer please let us know how your son is doing after his next surgery. I will have you and your family in my prayers. I want to thank everyone for the info that you have provided us. I am still trying to process that my 9 year old has a heart condition. I promise we will put a post up on Monday as to what Dr. Balguma has to say. Again thank you for all the info and well wishes.

[Silver]

Tell Doctor Balgomer C. M. Roldan says hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wally_Gator]

Tell Doctor Balgomer C. M. Roldan says hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Will Do...

[Silver]

Good Luck With Everything Today! You'll All Be Fine!
Thoughts And Prayers, And A Big Hug Too! ;)

[Silver]

I am wondering and thinking of how you might be feeling today Mrs Wally Gator..................
I hope today is a good day in terms of the news............I'll wait to see.
PRAYERS AND FLOATING AROUND YOU ALL TODAY! :smile:

[Wally_Gator]

Great news and bad news...
We saw the Dr. today and he was great. After todays visit Here is what we know..
Great News:
His heart is in excellent condition. One more test to make sure. But nothing to report and no restrictions based on his heart.
Bad News:
We have no clue to why he has chest pains and short of breath.
It is not asthma and that has been confirmed.
So after this last test onto another specialist maybe...
Silver, Dr. say hi...

[beer truck]

I'm glad things went well today, I'm sure that with more testing they can get to the bottom of the problem. The hardest part is allways the wait for information, just knowing that his heart is strong is great news. Time to breath a little sigh of relieve, and appreiciate the little things in life, like family, friend and health. Please keeps us posted on any updates
Don (beer truck)

[Wally_Gator]

Beer Truck,
Thanks, I would like to consider myself an educated man, and when all of this started months ago, I called the Dr's B.S. I do not know as much as them, yet I know enough to have things "Ring True" and if it is one thing about this, nothing has rung true to me yet. We have followed all of the Dr's orders to the T, yet I will keep pushing to get to the bottom of this..
And the bottom I feel is nerves and stress in a young 9 year old boy..
(There is alot of history he has been through, culminating with the finialization
of my adoption of him.) But that whole story is another Novel...
Thanks for the well wishes. We can breathe now that we know this major system is fine...
Walter

[Scream]

Wally, after reading through this thread, maybe your son was having an alergic reaction to the athsma meds? I dunno, no doctor hear, but seems to me if the problem was 20 fold after the start of the meds that perhaps the arythmia may have been because of the reaction. I've got athsma and sometimes when I've used my inhaler it feels like my heart want's to jump out of my chest, so I can only imagine...
Good luck and great news actually I think
Scream.
Beertruck, Good luck with your son...I love kids, they're really gifts from heaven, and it sounds like you've got a great gift indeed.

[Wally_Gator]

Wally, after reading through this thread, maybe your son was having an alergic reaction to the athsma meds? I dunno, no doctor hear, but seems to me if the problem was 20 fold after the start of the meds that perhaps the arythmia may have been because of the reaction. I've got athsma and sometimes when I've used my inhaler it feels like my heart want's to jump out of my chest, so I can only imagine...
Good luck and great news actually I think
Scream.
Beertruck, Good luck with your son...I love kids, they're really gifts from heaven, and it sounds like you've got a great gift indeed.
Scream,
They term it as a sensitivity to the meds, not sure, but I think it aggravated an underlying condition.
We will persue this next with a pulminologist, that is if the antibiotics haven't cleared this up by after the next cardio test.