A Day in the Life of Josiah

Josiah - I woke up Monday morning and as I got out of my bed, my legs were kind of wobbly and I almost fell down. I went and laid down on the couch. Mom came in and asked me how I was doing. I said, "Not good, my heart is beating too hard." She asked if I hurt anywhere and I pointed to my lower chest and said, "Here."
Mom made a phone call and then she put me in the car. When we got to the doctor's office it was pouring down rain. While we were getting ready to get out of the car, I threw up. My mom had to clean off my car seat and change my clothes. I'm glad she had an extra pair. By that time it had stopped raining and we went in.
Mom carried me in and while we waited to be called, I threw up again in a bag that my mom had thought to bring in. They called us back shortly after that. Of course, they had to check my height and weight and vital signs. Then we went to a room and the nurse put stickers all over my chest and on my legs and arms, too, which she hooked up to a machine that printed out lines. After this, I threw up again. They gave me some Gatorade to drink.
Next the doctor told Mom to take me for lab work and xrays. When she carried me this time, she noticed that my heart was not beating so hard. Hannah was already with us, but Daddy met us in the hall on the way to the Lab. When I saw him, I perked up for a minute and wanted him to hold me.
Dad took me back for the lab work and I was very brave. I tried to drink the Gatorade, but I kept throwing it up. When we got back to the doctor, they wanted me to let a tablet dissolve under my tongue. It tasted bad, but it stopped the vomiting.
After the doctor talked to us some more, they took us to another room, they call a "holding room". They were saying I was dehydrated and needed to give me fluids through a tube. By this time my veins were hiding and the first nurse could not get the line in. I was crying for them to stopped. A second nurse came in and got the line in on the first try. While my body drank in the fluid, I got to watch "Lady and the Tramp" with Hannah on the TV in the room. That helped take my mind off unpleasant things. The rest of my family was hungry and sat around munching crackers and things from the snack machine.
In a little while, I wanted some crackers, too, and the doctor said I could have some. My Dad let me eat two packs!
By the time the IV bag was empty and the results of my blood tests had come back, we had looked at some books, drew a little with my sister's Color Explosion paper, and watched another movie , "The Return of Jafar". It was funny and I was laughing and feeling better. After all that fluid, Dad had to take me to the bathroom. I got a sticker, which Mom got a picture of .

I didn't know she was getting my face in the picture. I think I look a bit funny. That's okey if it makes you laugh, because I like to make people laugh.
I thought after all this, we would get to go home, but my doctor sent us to Egleston for more tests. My mom got something to eat on the way, but I could only have crackers and Gatorade. I was bummed. While we were doing this, Dad and Hannah were going home to let Lady out and would meet us later.
When we got to the hospital ER, I thought I was going to get to watch WALL-E in the waiting room, but they took us right on back. More vital signs, More stickers on my chest. I still have my IV, just in case, along with my battle scars.
The first thing they did was put jelly on my chest to do a sonogram of my heart. I asked the lady if she was going to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She thought I had a wild imagination. I got to see colorful pictures of my heart. It was cool!
Dad and Hannah arrived just in time to see it, too. The good news is that my heart looks good. The bad news is that there is a prolonged QT, whatever that is. It has something to do with the rhythm. They drew more blood through my IV. I was hooked up to a monitor, but they did another EKG anyway. Then, we waited to go home. I was getting restless and wanted to remove all the stickers, but they wouldn't let me. At least Mom was able to get the gauze and tape off from all the places where they stuck me that day. Finally they released us to go and removed my IV and all the sticky pads and wires. The only thing I came home with was my arm band and the bandage from my IV.

Lady was so glad to see me and I was happy to see her, too.

She kept licking my face!

Home Sweet Home! But look at the time!

Hannah and Daddy brought home Ramen noodles for me and I ate a huge bowl of them before we settled for the night.

Tuesday morning, Mom woke me to go back to the doctor's office for a follow-up exam. They were all happy to see me looking more chipper. I love looking at the fish in the waiting room.

When we went back to the room, the nurse did another EKG. Prolonged QT was still there. They want me to go see a heart specialist. Also they talked about why I had been throwing up yesterday. Since I had a bit of redness in my throat and the antibiotics they had given me yesterday through my IV had seemed to help, she thought it might be strep or some other bacterial infection.

Then more bad news for me, I had to get a shot (the antibiotic). They put it in my leg and I held very still, but I cried. My leg hurt and Mom had to carry me to the car. For the next 8 days, I can take my antibiotic orally.

I rested a bit when we got home, but not as much as Mom.

Friday, I will go to see an Arrhythmia specialist at Sibley Heart Center in Snellvile.