Aiden’s Story Continues …

Which was strange for my son, he generally is not one to have anxiety about things like this but there was of course “talk” in the halls about kids having to have the test redone or whatever. I tried to answer questions and reassure him that most likely it was not a problem for those kids but a precautionary measure to make sure they were tested correctly.

We ran the test on my son, my volunteer partner handed the results to the nurse. The nurse said to run his test again. We thought nothing of it and ran it again. This time I walked the results out and she said “let’s try a different machine”. At this point I was getting a little nervous and told the nurse that it was my son. She was very reassuring and did the 3rd test herself. My son was sent back to class and finished his school day.

I received a call from YH4L by 4PM the following Monday. It is amazing how one phone call can turn your world upside down. My son was diagnosed with WPW, Wolfe Parkinson White. I had never heard of this before but immediately I was scared since we were talking about my 15 year olds heart!

The nurse advised for him to stop all activities until I could get him to a doctor. I know the nurse covered many details but all I heard was get him to the doctor ASAP. The scary part was as the nurse and I were on the phone my son was on the football field practicing, as he has done every fall for the last 9 years and I had no way of reaching him to tell him to stop! By the time I would have driven there practice would have been over. I could not wait to hear his voice when practice was over and he would call to tell me he was on his way home!

Aiden has had regular doctor visits since he was born. He has had every physical necessary for school and sports. He was born with this condition and we were totally unaware. He currently plays baseball as a catcher and football he is a quarterback. His heart was broken in every sense of the phrase at the thought of never getting to play again! He has always been considered extremely healthy, so this news hit us very hard. Aiden’s condition would have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for this program!!! I will forever be grateful to YH4L for truly saving my son’s life! His condition was one of the reasons that Dr. Marek created this program. WPW is the condition that could cause a heart attack without warning, it is one of the easier “problems” to detect and repair.

Aiden had surgery March 13th, 2014 and I am happy to report he is healthy and free of WPW. He missed 2 days of school and about 8 days of baseball…….that is only because he is a catcher and squatting was not that comfortable after having 7 catheters in your thighs!

Thank you, Dr. Marek and the entire team for creating this program and saving Aiden’s life!!!!

With sincere gratitude~ William, Regina and Aiden W.