Doctor and the Aquarium - Part 1

About three weeks ago, Jared had two SVTs in one week.  That was unprecedented frequency and led to use having to drive to Tampa two days later to see an Pediatric Electrophysiologist (EP) under the recommendation of Jared's Cardiologist. Bonus goes to anyone that can say "Pediatric Electrophysiologist" 10 times without pausing. :-)

We went as a family and arrived right on time and, of course, the doctor's office was running about 45 minutes late. :-)  The kids all behaved exceptionally well.  The office had toys in the lobby and then they were given their iPads in the examination rooms.  We went from the initial stats collection room, to the ECHO room, and finally to the examination room with the EP Doctor.

The doctor gave us hope that he could remove the cause of Jared's SVTs.  Up to that day we had little hope it would be treated because of a complication with another Cardiac condition he had.  The procedure was thankfully not surgical but instead utilized catheters and a process called ablation to remove the faulty electrical pathway.  He explained that there was a success rate of 85% and if the SVTs should return, the catheter ablation can be repeated.  We made the choice to schedule the procedure as soon as possible, as not proceeding would risk Jared's life. An upside was the doctor's assurance that his quality of life would improve and the dropping of two of his daily drugs. Regardless, it was not an easy decision.

Afterwards, we wanted the kids to have some fun too and on our way home we stopped at the  "Florida Aquarium".  This is a great place to visit during the hot Florida "winter" (otherwise known as summer). Amber was sleeping in the stroller when we arrived and missed the picture.

Lance's favorite parts of the Aquarium were the gators and the sharks.  

Jared liked the Touch Tank best.

Titus' choices were the gators and fish in the mangroves.  However, I really think he liked the dry ice projector best since he kept running back and forth through it.

Amber clearly liked the main aquarium.

Part 2 of this story is the actual procedure and a three day trip to St. Petersburg which began on July 12th.