It has been a long day! We had to leave our house by 6:45 to get to the hospital for an 8:00 AM check-in and we’ve been going ever since. I was shocked by how nervous Little was and by how it showed … she didn’t talk! That’s right, SILENCE was the coping mechanism of choice.  I was perfectly calm until she started doing that and then I found myself freaking out a bit.

Then they gave Little Valium to help relax her and all of a sudden her lips were loosened and she felt free to share how nervous she was. The medicine continued to kick in and she started crying too. Then more people started piling into the room … a tech started an echocardiogram, the anesthesiologist explained what would be happening and then asked the tech multiple questions about what was showing up on the echo, the cardiologist came in with two teenagers who were shadowing her today and then the nurse came in to see if we were all ready. Little closed her eyes and shook.

At that point Dr. Miyamoto asked me to join her outside the room and she proceeded to prepare me for the worst. She explained that she was nervous about the procedure and promised to stop at the first sign of a problem. She explained what steps they would take if Little’s heart were to stop beating. Bottom line? She freaked me out. I held it together long enough to dress up in a surgical “bunny suit” (think Stay Puff Marshmallow Man) and be with Little as she fell asleep and then I headed to the waiting area where I closed my eyes and shook.

The one hour procedure took 2.5 hours and then Dr. Miyamoto joined me in the waiting room, her head was shaking as she sat down beside me. So, she was fully expecting to go in and find conditions in the heart that would mean our follow-up conversation would be all about heart transplants; turns out nothing was as bad as she was expecting. It seems Little’s “sinus node” is broken — that’s her God-given pace maker. They put in a lead through her groin and up to her heart, set a healthy heart rate/pace and watched as all her numbers evened out and she began to look … WELL. Recommendation?  A pacemaker to be put in early next week. (As in, potentially Tuesday)

The question remains as to why this is happening. No one is sure if cardiac disease caused the sinus node malfunction or if the sinus node malfunction caused the cardiac weakness. A biopsy of the heart was taken during the catheterization today and will be tested for disease. A genetic panel will be done too to see what shows up on that front. There is one other test they want to do, a special type of EKG, but that will be done at a later date — a pacemaker takes precedence.

We are spending the night at the hospital tonight and there has been discussion about keeping us here until the procedure next week (it is NOT a surgery). There is also discussion about how it is silly to keep us here for that long. Little and I are learning together about having an open hand.

Thank you for praying for us. Little’s heart keeps leaving the medical staff completely flummoxed and I truly believe the anomalies are results of prayer.

During these two months I have often found myself on the verge of freaking out. There have been verses I’ve quoted and Truth I’ve claimed but I want to leave you with one song I keep singing over and over. And then I’m off to close my eyes … and sleep.

“But I know whom I have believèd,
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.”

Daniel Whittle