Several weeks ago, one of my sons (we'll call him Jonathan...because that's his name) had some warts removed by our family physician. No biggie. However, during the preliminary exam before the procedure our doctor found that Jonathan's heart rate was really, REALLY fast. Not I'm-a-bit-nervous-because-I'm-at-the-doctor-fast, but unusually, alarmingly fast. Of course the doctor checked and double-checked but the results were the same. Being the fine physician that he is, our local G.P. referred Jonathan to a cardiologist to investigate further.
A couple visits to the specialist later, and Jonathan was wearing a Holter monitor for 24 hours to get a good read on what his heart was actually doing. After revisiting the pediatric cardiologist for an ECG and more analysis, we learned that Jonathan was suffering from a condition called ectopic atrial tachycardia.
Now things were getting serious, and being the man of faith that I am, I began to wonder out loud to God "just what exactly is going on here and why?"
The doctors made the decision to start Jonathan on beta blockers (drugs typically used to abate a rapid heartbeat). There was some improvement from the drugs, but not nearly what was needed. His former 150-180 bpm heart rate was still in the 130-150 bpm range all day, every day.
Here is the urgency in all of this: if the problem isn't fixed, damage to the cardiac muscle is certain, and that is NOT good. Ultimately you have a failed heart.
The next step, then, for Jonathan was a procedure called cardiac ablation therapy. I'll keep this post brief and let you read about it on your own, but after a pretty fascinating 2-3 hour procedure under general anesthetic, my son's heart was beating in a normal range again. In the days since the procedure, he's been sleeping better, is more talkative, more energetic, and has even been laughing more. We had no idea what the tachycardia had stolen from him. The prognosis: Jonathan's heart is fixed, and should be good for the rest of his life.
So, at the end of it all, I am super thankful for those warts. News of my son having a serious heart issue prompted me to send some frustrated and despairing questions in God's direction, but He was patient with me. I know that not every story ends happily, but in this case, I can see now that God used warts to take care of Jonathan's heart before things got a lot worse. And I'm reminded that He is good.
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