Stellan

A while back I stumbled upon this blog about a baby that had SVT. I found myself taken back to my life, 9 years ago.

See I have walked down this road. But blogs were not big back then and I didn’t have an outlet for all of my fear and anxiety. So much of it was kept inside. Blake was diagnosed at 3 weeks, when his heartrate was 270 beats per minute. We are pretty sure that he also had it in utero, it was just never caught.

We spent a crazy first year, in and out of Children’s Hospital, trying to find a medication that would work. He was medicated his first year, and then weaned off. By the time he 5 years old he was still having episodes so his doctors recommended having him ablated. In this procedure they go in through the groin and up to the heart where they “burn” off the extra pathways that are causing the SVT. Blake had two or three extra pathways.

An ablation is supposed to be a “cure”. And so far for Blake, it has been. But we are aware that as he grows, we need to watch. Because his ablation was done at such a young age (although his large size was a bonus), there is always the chance that scar tissue will develop or his SVT could come back. Ablations are supposed to have a 90% cure rate. We are hopeful.

So, as I read and pray about baby Stellan, I also pray for his mom. Because I know how she feels.