Hospitalization of Samuel

Samuel is in need of your prayers. Yesterday he was admitted to the Pediatric ICU at the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. We received Samuel's heart monitor in the mail on Tuesday and low and behold he actually had an episode on Wednesday. So thanks to those of you who were praying for a clear and definitive answer to our prayers about resolving this before leaving the states if it was anything to be concerned about. Although an unpleasant experience for us all, we are thankful for God's timing and protection of Samuel. Here is the story thus far...

Samuel's episode came in full force yesterday as he entered super ventricular tachycardia (SVT) once again. It started around 1:20pm, and so we were able to record the episode with the monitor and send it to the doctor. However the episode continued on. After some waiting to hear back from the cardiologist, we called back when Samuel's tachycardia had continued for an hour and a half. They told us to take him to the ER. We took him in around 3:30. At that point, he was starting to get weak and had to be taken by wheelchair into the hospital. They proceeded to run some tests and tried various means including some strong medication to reset his heart and bring him out of the tachycardia. At this point his heart rate had been between 260-270 BPM for over two hours. We started to become really concerned when it seemed as though the ER staff seemed at a loss as to what to do next. They were able to get his heart to slow down for a few seconds, but then it would jump back up to the high rate. It's never good to hear from the doctor: "This is very strange. We're usually able to get people out of the tachycardia by this point." They ended up calling in the cardiologist and made the decision to have Samuel admitted.

So they moved him to intensive care and put him on some different medication which, as I understand it, is pretty strong stuff. It took a while but after 3 doses his heart finally slowed down, about six hours after his heart had gone into the tachycardia. We were very thankful that the ICU staff was able to get his heart reset.

Samuel was weaned off the IV meds this afternoon and is now taking oral medication to suppress any further episodes and keep his heart at a normal rate. In discussing our unique circumstances and time frame in wanting to get back to Italy our cardiologist is advising that we have the extra electrical pathway in Samuel’s heart ablated. The cardiologist believes he will continue to have these episodes without any intervention.

Samuel was just transferred out of ICU and will continue to be monitored. He is scheduled for his ablation at 2:30pm tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. He has been battling a fever yesterday and today along with a very dry but persistent cough. He currently is feeling much better and having kept his dinner down is looking much perkier. The team of doctors and electro-cardiologist will evaluate him tomorrow morning to make sure his cold symptoms will not pose a hindrance to the procedure. If all goes well, he could be released tomorrow night.

Thank you for praying, and thank you for taking the time to read this post. We will keep you updated as we can. Pray for a good night of rest for Samuel (okay, and the parents as well), continued strength and a peace and calmness for us all as Samuel goes through the procedure tomorrow.