Cardiology

Before leaving the hospital, we were set up with a cardiology appointment to have Quay's heartbeat irregularity checked out.  This appointment was made for the week following our discharge from the hospital.  When we got home on Monday, we set up Quay's first well baby check up with Dr. Terrah, the pediatrician we use when our normal pediatrician is not available, for Thursday of the same week.  

When we were through going over the basics with the doctor, she mentioned that she would like to have an EKG done since she was also hearing the irregular heartbeat.  One was performed in the hospital just after Quay's birth to confirm the presence of the premature ventricular contractions, but Dr. Terrah wanted to have another one done at this appointment.  

Two nurses came in and placed the sticky tabs all over Quay's tiny body and then hooked up the wires to the tabs.  They recorded her heart activity and a printout was given to us.  Dr. Terrah said that she would feel better if we went to see the cardiologist this very same day instead of waiting until our scheduled appointment the next week.  She said it would just be best to have her checked out before the weekend.  She didn't notice anything new, but she said she would call the cardiology department at Geisinger in Danville and we were to go there right away.  This freaked me out a little.

The pediatric cardiology deparment is in the same exact place as the pediatric nephrology department (where we go to have Trafton's kidney checked), so we were pretty familiar with the experience.  We saw the most pleasant nurse who checked all sorts of vital signs and heartbeat rhythms.  Then we saw Dr. Connuck who was just the nicest doctor in the world.  He was great!  He talked to us for a long time about Quay and about what the PVCs exactly were.  He said he enjoyed seeing patients so small; it was rare for him to see such tiny babies.  He asked how I was recovering after a c-section.  He was calm and informative and seemed so un-rushed and willing to spend the entire day talking to us.  I appreciated this very much! 

Dr. Connuck checked Quay's heartbeat while she was calm and then we got her all fussy and he checked it then.  He was trying to determine the presence of the PVCs when her heartrate was fast versus slow.  He found that the PVCs did not present themselves when her heartrate was fast - when she was fussing.  They were there when she was calm. 

He explained PVCs as an extra heartbeat that begins in one of the two lower pumping chambers of the heart.  They can sometimes be felt - like your heart is flip-flopping and therefore may be noticeable to her now or when she gets older.  Ocassional PVCs are common, but Quay has constant and irregular PVCs - sometimes they happen frequently, sometimes they go away, and there is no rhythm to them happening. 

While all the other doctors in the hospital were telling me that these PVCs just began last Friday when they were detected (because they can start at anytime), Dr. Connuck offered a different explanation.  He said the have been there since Quay's heart first developed in the womb, but they never showed up on a heartbeat check at a prenatal appointment because her heartbeat was fast and the PVCs are suppressed when the heartbeat speeds up. 

The doctor said that Quay can continue to have this condition monitored by her primary care physician because it wasn't very serious.  It is not something she needs to see someone in the cardiology department for again unless she would be referred.  He said this would just be something to be aware of and that she would live with, but that there would be no lifestyle restrictions placed on Quay because of this. 

All good news from a really, really nice doctor :)