Aden

By his mom, Ashley

Our journey started with a routine appointment to the pediatrician. Our son Aden had been fussy the night before, so we thought he had an ear infection. When the nurse took his vital signs it became clear that Aden was dealing with much more than a simple infection: His heart rate was 275 beats per minute. We had no idea what that could possibly mean for our son. All we knew was that we were terrified.

We were told to rush him to our local ER for treatment. When we arrived they quickly took Aden back and we were swarmed with doctors and nurses. I held my son’s hand as he screamed while they tried to find a good vein for an IV. After tests, the doctor came in and told us Aden had a heart rhythm disorder which would require a specialist’s care. I had of course never heard of this before, so I was scared and unsure of what to think.

From the first day we met Dr. Kaltman and his amazing team at Children’s National we knew we were in the right place. We received nothing but compassion and understanding from each and every person who was involved in Aden's care.

This was the start of a long journey for us and Aden. He was in and out of the hospital often and his medications were changed regularly as the doctors attempted to control his episodes. During one of his hospital stays, the doctors determined that his particular symptoms were caused by something called Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome.

After years of unsuccessfully trying to manage Aden’s episodes through medication, it was time for us to consider other options. So at three years old, he went in for a catheter ablation in his heart. The nurses were great at keeping us updated throughout the procedure and four hours later Aden came out a new kid. Dr. Kaltman told us that they believed they found and fixed the problem, and he didn't think Aden would have problems with his heart anymore.

Aden no longer shows any signs of WPW. It has been such a change for our family. We are no longer afraid to leave him home with family in the fear that he will need us and we wouldn't be there. We sleep better at night knowing that he's okay. And best of all we no longer end up in the ER or for overnight stays in the hospital.

Through the years of Aden’s treatment, the staff and the cardiology team at Children's has been incredible. Dr. Kaltman and the EP nurses (Vicky, Carol, and Beth) were always so willing to answer my questions, and sometimes I had many questions for them. We couldn't have picked a better place to take our son. We refer everyone we know to Children's if they need to seek the care of a specialist as we are confident it's the best place their children could be!

Thanks so much to the cardiology team and Children's National!