Beats Per Minute

Jerry's Heart Monitor

When Jerry went for his check-up with the neurologist yesterday, he was concerned about how low his heartbeat was. It was 60 BPM. His blood pressure of 100/65 was also considered low for a teenage boy. Dr. Foradada looked back over his records and previous visits to see that his heart rate normally ranged between 75-87 BPM. Since we have weaned him off the majority of his medications, this cannot be a side effect of anything he is taking. So before we left his office, Dr. Foradada called a pediatric cardiologist and scheduled Jerry for a complete cardiac work-up and EKG this morning. Jerry has also been complaining of headaches. His seizure medicine is also used to treat migraines and so the only logical explanation for the headaches is the low BP and BPM.

Dr. Ballal did a sonogram on Jerry's heart. This morning his heart rate was in the 50's. That, along with the fact that he is bruising easily and always has cold hands ensured we came home with a 24-hour heart monitor. Dr. Ballal is curious what his heart rate is when he is sleeping if it is so low when he is awake. The doctor did say that the low heart rate could be from his rapid weight loss, but even in the hospital for the SMAS over the summer, his heart rate never dropped to this low.

Next week we will go for a tilt test at St. Joseph's Hospital. They strap him to a table and put a salt-based solution into an IV and monitor his blood pressure every two minutes for half an hour. At that time, we will also get his test results from the heart monitor.

Until then, he is milking this for all it's worth! On the way out of the doctor's office I told him to fix his shoe. He said, "I can't. I have this heart monitor on." Oh brother!

On another note, this child has NOT gained 1 pound yet! And his eating habits are slowly regressing it seems. At least three times in the last week, he chose not to eat his lunch. And he may or may not have eaten breakfast on those days either. He's been saying he doesn't feel well and that he feels sick to his stomach or it hurts. We see the GI doctor in another week and a half so I will save my concerns for her. 

I'll keep everyone updated!