Sydney's Hospital Trip

As the work party was winding down Sydney told me she didn't feel well. I thought no big deal -- we'll head home rest and all will be right with the world. Not 30 seconds later Sydney said "Momma my chest hurts". At that point I noticed she was a little grey and covered in a cold sweat. This is a moment every heart mom dreads -- at least I assume we all do. This moment has NEVER happened to us before. The first thought that ran thru my head was "Oh my HELL not now"! The next thing I knew Sydney was leaning into me with her eyes open wide saying her chest hurt, and now her arm.

I told the boys it was time to go -- they were both so good. We headed to the van and I made Sydney sit in the front seat. I phoned the transplant nurse on call and held for what seemed like forever -- really only 10 minutes. By the time I spoke to her we were heading down Parley's Canyon. I kept expecting her to tell me to take her home and watch her -- Nope. We were invited to go and see them in the ER. As I looked at Sydney who had tears in her eyes, and my two little big boys in their car seats I wanted to cry. Caitlin was at Youth Conference and I was on my own. The boys I'm sure were hopped up on cotton candy, soda and a fun afternoon of rides. A trip to the ER was not going to be on their "list". I called Charles and he was able to get a hold of his parents. They had his brother’s boys but my FIL could come down and get the boys if needed. As I was driving down Foothill Blvd. the thought came to my mind to call Wennie. Wennie would come and get the boys at the ER, take them home, pack them up, feed them dinner and give them to my FIL. Oh what would we do without our Wennie?

At the ER there was no parking, the valet was closed so we parked in the BMT. Someday when I build a hospital it will have more than 10 parking spots at the ER. I carried Sydney in with Jon holding Zachary's hand following behind. At the check in desk I got to hear one girl’s tale of sadness about her yellow bridesmaid dress with pink flowers on it for a wedding this summer. On the third "excuse me" she acknowledged that we were there and asked me to wait -- I told her "no" that we were there by the request of Cardiology and could not wait. Nice reception girl informed me that they did not have a paper from Cards on a Sydney VanShaar however they did have one on a Tiffany VanShaar with the same birthday as Sydney etc (insert eye roll here).

The LPN came out and got Sydney who had quit talking and took her into a triage room. Sydney's heart rate was quite high (150+) and her blood pressure low (60's/40's). They paged the Cardiologist on call -- and moved us to a trauma room. The fellow from cards came in and ordered a ton of tests, and then asked Sydney what had happened. Sydney just looked at him and didn't say much. Brother Jon to the rescue -- he told Dr. Hoffman all about what happened. I hate having Jon know so much when he is so little. The lab came, EKG, x-ray, and then we headed for an echo just as Wennie got there. It was good timing as the boys had explored every part of the room and had used all of the stickers we had. The EKG was a bit off, her echo was okay, her lab work was fine -- not dehydrated, and the x-ray looked a bit off as well.

The plan was made -- admit to cardiology for at least overnight to rule out a heart attack. I think this was the point I asked if they (the cardiology team) were serious. They were. At that point I was scared. Dr. E even came in – hello it is 9 at night – cardiologists don’t come in at night.

We headed up to the third floor for the night -- I had nothing with me just my hot sweaty clothes I'd worn all day. I didn't feel like I could leave so I just sat there feeling icky. Thank goodness for my sister Mandy who came with all of the needed items. We spent the night talking and playing games.
Sydney slept well overnight but had some pain. Her labs looked good and they eventually decided that she had an infection in her sternum and her cyclo level was way off. At that point they were able to discharge her -- none too soon.

She has her regular cardiology visit on 8 July -- so we hope to stay healthy until then.