More drama. . . Mary Fainted and had an EKG today

(If you want the bottom line -just the gist-, and not the details, just skim for italics. My last blog post was toooooo long and some people skimmed it and then were sharing erroneous information at church!)

This morning Mary ate a whole adult serving of oatmeal, and then she shook her head no when I offered more. I got her out of her highchair and thought her torso felt warm. She was sitting pretty floppily on my hip and felt limp as I carried her to her room. As a laid her on the changing table to take her temperature, I realized her eyes were closed, her mouth was slightly open and she was pressing her hand into her eye. Her tongue was slightly out and I noticed with terror that she had no color in her face. Her lips were perfectly gray. She was breathing fine and her temperature was 99.2, but I had the same feeling in my chest and head as the last time she lost consciousness. And she looked the same, except for the rising and falling of her stomach with each breath.

I immediately called the pediatrician's office, where I can talk to a nurse anytime. I told her Mary's color was gray and pallid and she seemed unusually lethargic, but that Mary's breathing was normal. Mary kept putting her head down on my chest like she wanted to fall asleep (at 9AM??) until I put her down on the floor. As the nurse and I tried to discern whether I should call 911, Mary stood up, walked across the room and started playing with Jonah. Her top lip remained gray and her skin just wasn't rosy. I took her to the doctor's office and he confirmed she was getting plenty of oxygen, and as we discussed medical history, I realized. . . this morning she seemed like she was in the middle of fainting. . . what if she fainted two weeks ago when she hit her head on the blanket chest and that caused her to fall rather than the pillow I thought she tripped over? Since 2 episodes constitute having "spells" and the heart can be a possible culprit, we were sent from the doctor's office to the hospital to have an EKG performed.

Well, the pediatrician just called and has gotten the results from the cardiologist, and he spent a lot of time on the phone talking to the pediatric cardiologist today. The good news is that her QT interval is normal, which means there's no tendency for a life-threatening arythmea, although it is possible that a milder arythmea exists. He also ruled out SVT (Super Ventricular ____________), which causes kids to snap in and out of periods with 250+ heartbeats per minute. So we did find out that she has a possible right ventricular hypertrophy, which means she may have a slightly larger than normal right ventrical for her age. This is not likely a factor in these (2?) fainting spells, but does mean we need to verify normal cardiac function. So next Thursday we will go to the cardiologist and have an echocardiagram, just to check all areas of the heart to make sure all muscles are coordinating. If her heart is functioning normally, we will be sent to the neurologist to make sure it isn't some kind of seizure disorder. Since not all seizures manifest the same, it is a possibility, and it will be good to rule this out. If neither the heart nor a neurological problem is causing these "spells", we will assume it is a breath-holding episode as was originally diagnosed in the ER. Today she was NOT holding her breath, it's like she was fainting in my arms and on the changing table.

Medical mysteries are the pits. With anything, a mom just wants answers that will dictate a specific course of action. Diagnosis precedes prevention and treatment, but I am once again helpless and unable to do anything but wait and pray. Pray with me that God will watch over my baby girl. Oh and that I find childcare for three doctor appointments next week (one for Mary and two for me that I can't take kids to). Does anyone want to babysit for a couple hours?

Oh, and did I mention the bottom finally fell out of our washing machine Tuesday night, flooded our basement, and I had to buy a shop-vac, fan, dehumidifier, and new washer and dryer this week? Pray that the pad under our 1-year-old carpet fully dries out without us having to pull up the carpet. . . I also took 4 children to the laundromat for 2 hours to wash three 45-lb loads of laundry - $20, ugh, and I still came home with damp towels. Our new washer and dryer won't be delivered until June 14th. . . I am beginning to wear out. Pray nothing else happens. I would love a day of boredom.