Stellan is in the hospital with SVT

1:04 am

I am at the Children's Hospital downtown, having just arrived with Stellan via ambulance ride from the hospital near our home, where I had been with him since 6 pm. Stellan's heart is in Supra Ventricular Tachycardia, the same state he was in when he nearly died in my womb. Today, we find ourselves in the same hospital he was in when he had RSV, but treating his heart now instead.

Really long story short: Stellan had been sick this weekend. He got sicker. He was retracting a lot, wheezing, and generally struggling for breath on Sunday afternoon. My husband and I decided it would be safer to take him in to the ER instead of just putting him to bed, once evening came around. I took him in early Sunday evening. In the ER, Stellan was coughing and choking a bit, and having to work pretty hard to breathe, had a temperature of 100, but was no where near as sick as when he had RSV. I wasn't terribly worked up; mostly I was just hoping we didn't have to get admitted to the hospital.

Even though Stellan was no where near as bad off as he was when I took him in with RSV in December, his O2 sats were down and so the doctor ordered a nebulizer treatment for him. The first neb did wonders and his wheezing all but ceased. RSV and Influenza A and B were ruled out. His chest xray showed some junk in his lungs, but nothing completely conclusive. Stellan was breathing much better after his neb, all the big daddy sicknesses were ruled out, and the doctor was starting to fill out discharge papers so we could go home.

And then Stellan had a big choking fit. He couldn't clear his phlegm out and was sucking pretty hard. They suctioned him and he proceeded to begin retracting again. This was not entirely alarming to me or the doctor, but she did tell me she'd feel a lot better if he just stayed the night at that hospital so they could watch his breathing. I agreed and, since he was still struggling to breathe, she ordered one more albuterol neb treatment.

I am struggling hard not to feel angry that she did that, because after she did, things with Stellan went dramatically south. He began to be fussier than he had been and his pulse oximeter was showing that his heartrate was skyrocketing. It's all a blur after that, but I do know they hooked Stellan up to a heart monitor and ran an EKG to see if that was indeed his actual heartrate. It was. For the past three hours, Stellan's heartrate has been almost 300 beats per minute. The assumption is that the nebulizer medication threw his heart into this dangerous SVT and that his propensity for SVT, as exhibited in utero, is preventing him from flipping back out of it.

Watching doctors rushing around saying "SVT," hearing beeps and alarms and seeing those high heartrate numbers flash on the monitor threw me back to last summer when Stellan was sick inside of me, his tiny heart stuck in SVT. I ran out into the lobby and called Prince Charming, who reacted calmly and spent time praying for Stellan and praying that we would trust God. He prayed that God would calm Stellan's heart, and also prayed that even if He decides to take Stellan from us, we would cling to God.

I was reminded that God is in control, and I began to calm down.

The doctors and nurses tried a few things on Stellan to try to convert his heart. Pouring ice water over his head and face. Making him gag. They assured me that if it was indeed the albuterol in the neb that threw his heart into tachycardia, he would come out quickly. When he did not, they attempted to put in an iv, but were unsuccessful. I guess by this point they'd called the ambulance. The doctor told me they were sending Stellan to Children's Hospital, and that they'd have to put in an iv there.

Here I sit in the waiting room as the team here at the Children's Hospital is trying to get an iv started on Stellan. The doctor tells me she has a few things she wants to try on Stellan to see if she can get his heartrate down. The main thing is called Vagal Maneuvers and it involves grabbing Stellan by the legs and flipping him upside down quickly, in an attempt to convert his heartrate. If that doesn't work, the next plan is to administer Adenosine, a drug that would stop his heart momentarily in the hopes that, when it started again, it would beat in a correct rhythm. If it really comes down to using Adenosine, the ER doctor tells me he is most definitely certain that will convert Stellan's heart.

I am feeling anxious, yet at peace. I feel frustrated on one hand that I even took Stellan in, and thankful on the other hand that I did. I am exhausted and confused. I am not sure if this is a big deal, or a simple glitch that will easily be corrected. I am upset that it has been 26 minutes since I left Stellan's room and no one has come to tell me if his iv is in yet.

At any rate, my mind has gone back in time to last summer, when we thought we were going to lose our sweet Stellan to SVT. I remember how God carried me, as I trusted Him with our son. And, now, I make no choice but to do the same thing. This episode has taken us by surprise, but God is not surprised. His hand is in this, a truth I must cling to right now.

If you are so led, please pray for Stellan, that his heartrate would convert (slow down to a normal rate) and that our minds would be stayed upon Jesus, for He loves Stellan even more than we do.

3:38 am

The doctors in the ER here at Children's tried Vagal Maneuvers on Stellan, but were unsuccessful in converting his heartrate. They did a bolus of Adenosine to no avail and a second one also failed to convert his heartrate. A short while ago, Stellan was moved out of the ER up here to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). His heartrate is still in the 280s-290s. The next thing they are trying is a different drug (I don't remember the name) that is being given over the course of an hour in his iv.

Apparently, nebulizer treatments can cause heightened heart rates. Stellan had nebs when he was sick with RSV and never flipped into SVT. There is no way we could have known this would happen. I need to try to remember that. Stellan is NPO right now (he's not being allowed to eat), so while he sleeps and gets this hour long bolus of the new drug, I am in the lounge using the breastpump.

It is very dangerous for a baby (or anyone for that matter) to have such a high heartrate. The Intensivist (a doctor who works in an ICU) just told me that if they can't get Stellan's heart converted (but he feels totally sure that they will), they'll have to sedate him or intubate him or something, I don't remember. The point is, his heartrate needs to come down.

I am exhausted, but won't sleep at this point. I'd like to see Stellan's heartrate go down before I think I'll let myself sleep. Prince Charming is home with our other children and I've been updating him by telephone. I'll try to update later here if I can. For now, I am clinging to the hope I have that God has a plan for Stellan. We know not what it is, but we trust Him, whatever that plan is.

I trust Him.