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Monday, April 1, 2013

wolff parkinson white syndrome

early in march coen was telling me that his heart was bumping really fast. of course i thought it was nothing, or maybe that he was having a little anxiety, but he was persistent. he wanted to go to the dr,  so i complied. his heart sounded good at the pediatrician, but she sent us on for an ekg and by golly, the kid was right. he has a condition called wolff parkinson white or WPW.
 
 
let me (or rather, the mayo clinic) explain:
 
Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, or WPW syndrome, is the presence of an extra, abnormal electrical pathway in the heart that leads to periods of a very fast heartbeat (tachycardia).
 
so now what? well, coen seems very relieved that we are all tuned into him. i am sure these episodes were very scary for him, but now that we all know what it is, he is coping much better. he had to wear a 24 holter monitor a couple weeks ago, and he thought it was so super cool. we now have an event monitor that we carry with us to record the episodes as they happen. this afternoon he is having a echocardiogram, and tomorrow morning he and i are flying to oahu to meet with a pediatric cardiologist that comes over from san diego every couple months. we will know so much more after talking to him. 

 
i can't even begin to tell you how proud we are of coen for being tuned into his body and able to tell us that something wasn't right. not to mention, i am so glad we responded to him. listen to your kids, they may be pulling you leg most of the time, but you never know. 

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