24 hours

24 hours is only a day. But as I watched seconds and minutes tick away during that 24 hours, I realized how long a day can really be. 

I’ll start with the ending and that is Greta is okay.  And what a blessing that is. 

Never in a million years did I imagine walking into the ER and having the next 24 hours unfold like they did... but they did. 

Since October, Greta has had 4 episode where she complains (and I now say that with a heavy heart) that her heart is beating really fast and she doesn’t like it. It usually happens also when she is not doing much of anything - not running, jumping, playing soccer or anything that would make her heart beat faster. Then usually after about 2 to 4 hours she would start puking and would continue to puke for the next 8 to 10 hours. This usually happens at night so the next morning she would wake up fine.

Im December we went to the ER the morning after one of these episode and they didn’t find anything. Then 3 months past and nothing. So I’m thinking we are all good. 

Then April 7th happened. And strangely, all the other episodes also happened on the 7th of the month. 

5:30 pm Arrive at Motts ER (Greta told her teacher about 2:30 her heart was beating fast). 

Explain symptoms and get pulse checked by Triage nurse. 

Get taken back snd hooked to EKG machine.

Greta is in SVT. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/supraventricular-tachycardia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355243

We immediately get rushed to a new bigger room with lots more people. Then I start to realize this probably isn’t a good thing and start to get nervous. 

They give her some medicine to try to bring her heart down. 

This medicine fails 3 times or rather works but her heart then goes right back into SVT.

Greta starts puking and continues for about 3 hours. 

See cardiologist. Start talking about ablation procedure. Realize how much more how serious this is and also realize every time this has happened in the past, it was this and then mom guilt sets in because I did not bring her in.

Do a ECHO of her heart. Takes a long time because poor thing is puking the entire time and crying and saying she wants to go home. I try to reassure her she’s okay and she would say back, no I’m not. And a couple times I chuckled because she was right. 

7:50 pm - Talk to surgeon 

8:06 pm - Call Ryan to give update

8:30 - Surgeon calls Ryan

Surgery schedule for next day at about noon 

930 pm - try new meds and they start working almost immediately - her heart rate finally comes down to about 125 after about 6 + hours of it being at 240. 

And she sleeps! 

Great friends drop off a bag of clothes, pumping stuff , snacks for me and books for Greta. 

10:30 pm - Move to room on pediatric cardiology floor 

Get settled and talk with nurses about the night. Order some cold hospital sandwiches. Poor Greta isn’t hungry and I realize I haven’t eaten anything since lunch. 

I cuddle in with Greta and hold her for like 2 hours. She slept peacefully! I then tried the chair for a bit but didn’t get much sleep. 

Morning was pretty relaxed.  Got a new nurse. Met the doctor. Saw the residents. Called family to give updates. Greta got to paint. Play with play dough. Thanks for the great care team at Mott. Watch movies. But really all she wanted to do was eat. Poor thing hasn’t eaten since noon the previous day. She would say she was soooo hungry and that was a thousand o’s. 

Ryan arrived about 11 and we started to get Greta prepped. About 12:30 we went to the pre-op room and met lots more people including the anesthesiologist, the nurse anesthetist and lots of other people that were going to be taking good care of her. I could see she was starting to get scared and when it came came to give her some medicine to relax her, it was a big fight. At this moment I realized it was a blessing I had my mask on and I could cover part of my face so she couldn’t see the fear in my face too. At 1:20 pm, they took her. They took my baby to fix her heart. To fix something on her I didn’t even know was broken. I felt the wind leave my lungs and I prayed. 

The next 4 hours were long. Ryan and I walked to get lunch. A nurse gave us updates periodically. Good ones. Said her heart kept going into SVT so it was making their job easier. 

At about 4:45, doctor came out and talked with us. They found the extra path and fixed it. So she should be good as new. There is a small chance that it could happen again but very small and is unlikely. This is what she had https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/svt-ablation/pyc-20385010

At 5:25 pm, I got the word I could see her. I was so anxious. And when she saw me, she smiled and I think we both knew it was going to be okay.  

Greta had to lay flat for 4 hours and then we would get to go home. Go home time was set for 8:52. 

We got back to our room about 6 pm - about 24 hours after we arrived. And Greta was ready to eat despite having a sore throat from the tube. First ice cream, then a popsicle, then part of a cookie and part of a Turkey sandwich, then more cookie, and apple juice and water. And the more she ate. The more I saw Greta coming back. 

7:30 pm, Greta gets a monitor to wear for the next 48 hours. 

8 pm, IV comes out. 

8:30 pm, get Greta dressed

9:15 pm, we packed up and were walking out (well Greta was getting wheeled out). 

A quick stop for a milk shake and we arrive home about 9:45 pm - just 28 hours later.  

And as I type this, I realize how much happened. I am truly grateful for all the amazing people at Motts. They really are the best. I thank God he watched over Greta. And I feel so blessed that we walked out of there with a kid ready to tackle life again! I could not imagine my life without Greta.