I am proud daughter and aunt of two heart warriors- Gary Pete Wilson and Addison Gundler.
For those of you who don't know here is Addison's story: When my sister Angela, was six months pregnant with Addison, her obstetrician discovered an abnormal heart rhythm in utero. She sent her to specialists at Christ and Children’s Hospital for the rest of her pregnancy to monitor this arrythmia and perform ultrasounds. It was determined that Addison had frequent PAC’s (Premature Atrial Contractions) and once she was born her heart rhythm would hopefully return to normal.
When Addison was delivered at Mercy Fairfield an EKG was done right away and was abnormal. With her heart rate in the mid 200’s she was given medication to slow her heart rate but that did not work. Within an hour Addison was transported to Children’s Hospital by their critical care unit, where the cardiac electrophysiologist, Dr. Timothy Knilans, took over her care. He attempted a cardioversion on me twice, but both were unsuccessful. Addison was diagnosed with SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia) and WPW (Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome) and started medication twice a day to slow her heart rate. She spent a week at Children’s Hospital, half in the Cardiac ICU and half on the heart telemetry floor, being closely monitored and administered medication.
In 2014, at the age of six, Addison had an SVT and WPW ablation performed to treat the abnormal electrical pathway. The procedure lasted four hours and was a success! After one year, with no medication taken or abnormal heart rhythms Dr. Knilans released her from his care. Since then, she has been a healthy, thriving senior in high school, and look forward to continuing my education in the medical field!
My dad, started with heart issues at the young age of 40 and has had multiple procedures since. Most recently about 8 months ago he underwent a triple bypass, a-fib clip, and valve repairment.
Both of them are alive today due to the great research from the American Heart Association.
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