Can you believe it, Hannah is 5 years old!!! She is growing up so fast. If you hear her talk, you would think she was 25 years old. She is already so grown up for her age. I’ve never heard a 5-year old communicate so well!
It’s been a while since we’ve updated the site, so let me catch you up. Last summer, she was completely weaned off the amiodarone. Unfortunately, she went back into her atrial tachycardia, so she was admitted to OLOL to get on telemetry while Dr. Brumund started her new Flecainide treatment. There are several benefits of being on Flecainide as opposed to Amiodarone — firstly, Flecainide doesn’t mess with your thyroid at all. So she finally has a FULL head of HAIR!!! The other benefit to Flecainide is its half-life, which is only 8-12 hours (rather than Amiodarone’s 90-day half-life). Which means, if Dr. Brumund decides that ablation is the best option, all we have to do is stop giving her Flecainide and go in to the cath lab after only a few days (rather than waiting 3 months with Amiodarone). So she has been on Flecainide for the last year, has gone through several Holter monitors with outstanding results! She still has a few recurring episodes of SVT, but the rhythm is sinus, so that’s not too big of a deal. The important thing is that she has had no more episodes of atrial tachycardia!
That is, until last week. On Thursday, she had a checkup with Dr. Brumund. She had labs drawn (which she was not a big fan of), an EKG, ECHO, and a Holter monitor. Unfortunately, the Holter revealed some episodes of atrial tachycardia, so Dr. Brumund has increased her dose of Flecainide to 60mg from 40mg. Her levels showed that she is still on a moderate dose of Flecainide, so he is confident that the increased dosage will help keep the atrial tachycardia under control. So on Tuesday, she will see Dr. Brumund again, do another EKG and Holter monitor, and get more labs drawn to check Flecainide levels. Please pray that the increased dosage keeps her atrial tachycardia under control! We know that God is STILL totally in control, and we know that in the end HE will prevail over this heart condition!
If the results of the next Holter still show signs of atrial tachycardia, Dr. Brumund may put her back on Propranolol, a beta blocker that helps control rate, and works well with Flecainide to control ectopic arrhythmia. Or, he may suggest that we go ahead and try a round of RF ablation, which has a 99% success rate. Either way, we know that our God is still on the throne, and has His hand on this precious girl!
In other news, Hannah starts KINDERGARTEN on Wednesday! We cannot believe that this little miracle is so grown up. She continues to amaze us in every way. Nothing gets past her (which is a blessing AND a curse). She has the most remarkable memory of any child I’ve ever known. Of course you always brag about your own kids, but seriously, Hannah is so smart it’s kinda scary…
So anyway, that’s the latest on Hannah. I will try to keep her website more up-to-date than I have. And I will post pictures soon, I promise! Please continue to pray for her complete healing!
-Greg