Re: Paisley's 3 year old well baby...

[Guest guest]

Hi :

My son, who is 5 now, had a heart murmur when he was about 6 months.

It turned out to be a fistula, which is like a whole in the heart

that hadn't closed up and eventually it did. Nothing ever came of it

except several visits to the pediatric cardiologist. Thank goodness.

I remember having the same fear as you are feeling. Didn't even know

then, about the autism...seems almost trivial now.

I actually sold a medicine for reducing heart rate at one point in my

career. We actually provided education on hearing heart murmurs to

physicians. They are extremely difficult to hear sometimes and I

would think particularly so in little ones.

One step at a time, Take care,

Terri

>

> Today I took my Paisley for the 3 year old check up.As you all know

at a well baby it's all about develomental milestones..and as far as

those goes, we don't follow the charts anymore, or I don't anyway.

So that part was uneventful. When we came to where the doc was

physically checking out my Paisley, he asked if she had ever seen a

Dr for her heart murmur....heart murmur??? What???? No, she has

never seen a dr for her heart, I didn't know there was something

wrong with it!!!! So now we are waiting on a referral to a

Cardiologist...has anyone else had this happen??? We just moved to

Lubbock and so this Pediatrician we went to was new to us, so he

didn't know. I was actually just taking her there to get a referral

to an ENT for her. Has anyone else ever had all your drs in the past

miss something this important??? I am very concerned and freaked out

about this. The dr said that I shouldn't worry. He said that it

will be okay and that you can only take things one

> day at a time. I know he is right. I am just a mom...so you know

the fear you get if or when someone tells you there is something

wrong with your child...scared to death..

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with

Mobile. Try it now.

>

[Guest guest]

i have one but my kids dont i neverknew i had one til last yr for the most part they ar not anything to be fearful of although they usually have a person with one take antibiotics b4 dental work and other things but any way go see the cardiologist try not to worry ( i know not easy).it is always scary with medical discoveries with kids .good luckYou know the sound of your heartbeat: lub-dub, lub-dub. In some

people, there's an extra noise that the blood makes as it flows through

the heart. It sounds sort of like the noise of water flowing through a

hose. This sound is called a murmur (say: mer-mer). Most murmurs don't mean anything is wrong. But sometimes they are a sign of a problem with the heart.

The Heart and How It Works

The heart

is a strong muscle about the size of your fist that pumps blood around

the body. It sits inside the chest and is protected by the rib cage.

The heart has four different areas, or chambers. These chambers are

connected to each other by valves that control how much blood enters

each chamber at any one time. The valves open and shut with every beat.

As the valves shut to control the flow of blood through the heart, they

make the sound you recognize as your heartbeat.

Depending on a person's age, the heart beats about 60 to 120 times

every minute. Each heartbeat is really two separate sounds: lub-dub,

lub-dub. Your heart goes "lub" with the closing of the valves that

control blood flow from the upper chambers to the lower chambers. Then,

as the valves controlling blood going out of the heart close, your

heart goes "dub."

What Is a Heart Murmur?

A heart murmur is a whooshing sound between the beats that a doctor

hears through a stethoscope. The whoosh is just an extra noise that the

blood makes as it flows through the heart. Doctors usually discover

murmurs during regular checkups or when kids see the doctor because

they're sick.

Just like kids, murmurs have grades. Grade 1 is the softest-sounding

murmur, and Grade 6 is the loudest. A murmur graded 4, 5, or 6 is so

loud you can actually feel a rumbling from it under the skin if you put

your hand on the person's chest.

What Happens If You Have a Murmur?

More than half of all children have a heart murmur at some time in

their lives and most heart murmurs don't mean anything is wrong.

Doctors may call these "innocent", "functional," or "normal" murmurs.

They are caused by blood rushing through the valves in a normal heart

and are nothing to worry about.

One common type of normal murmur is Still's murmur, named for the

doctor who first described it. This murmur is most often heard in

healthy children ages 3 to 7.

A normal murmur can get louder when the blood flows faster through

the heart, like when kids have a fever or run around. That's because an

increase in body temperature or activity makes the heart pump more

blood. When your temperature goes down, the murmur may get quieter or

even disappear.

It can be easier to hear heart murmurs in kids because they have

less fat, muscle, and bone between the murmur and the doctor's

stethoscope. Many normal murmurs become harder to hear as children grow

older, and some eventually disappear.

Even though most murmurs do not mean anything is wrong, sometimes a

heart problem can cause a murmur. The heart may have a hole in it, a

heart valve may leak, or a valve may not open all the way. If your

doctor thinks your heart murmur could be due to a heart problem, you

will need to see a pediatric cardiologist (say: pee-dee-ah-trik car-dee-ah-luh-jist). This kind of doctor knows a lot about children's hearts.

What Do Doctors Do?

A pediatric cardiologist will ask questions to see if you've ever

been short of breath, had chest pain, felt dizzy, or fainted. The

doctor also will listen to your heart with a stethoscope, check your

pulse, and listen to your lungs. Sometimes the doctor might want you to

get a chest X-ray

to see if the heart looks bigger than normal. You also might get an

electrocardiogram (EKG), which measures electrical activity of the

heart. None of these tests hurt.

Another test the cardiologist might do is an echocardiogram. This

test uses sound waves to make a picture of the heart as blood is pumped

through its chambers and valves. It takes about 20 minutes and it

doesn't hurt either.

The doctor will take the information from the tests and exam and

determine if your murmur is likely to cause a problem for you. A kid

with a heart murmur might need to be careful about getting infections

that could travel to the heart. To prevent this, your doctor may

prescribe antibiotics for you to take before you get your teeth cleaned

at the dentist or have any surgery.

The doctor also may prescribe medicine to help the heart squeeze

harder, prevent blood clots (bits of thick blood that can block blood

vessels), remove extra fluid from the body, or lower your blood

pressure.

In some cases, surgery is necessary to fix the problem. Depending on

the problem, doctors can patch a hole in the heart, fix a valve,

rebuild a blood vessel, or stretch open a blood vessel that's too

narrow.

But most of the time, a heart murmur isn't a big problem. And most

kids with heart murmurs can run, jump, and play just like everybody

else. A heart murmur is simply a sound. It's not always the sign of a

heart problem. Usually, it's just your heart whistling while it works.

Reviewed by: Steve Dowshen, MD

Heart Murmurs

What causes heart murmurs? Heart murmurs are most often caused by defective heart valves. A

stenotic (sten-OT'ik) heart valve has a smaller-than-normal opening and

can't open completely. A valve may also be unable to close completely.

This leads to regurgitation, which is blood leaking backward through

the valve when it should be closed.

Murmurs also can be caused by conditions such as pregnancy, fever,

thyrotoxicosis (thi"ro-toks"ih-KO'sis) (a diseased condition resulting

from an overactive thyroid gland) or anemia.

A diastolic (di"as-TOL'ik) murmur occurs when the heart muscle

relaxes between beats. A systolic (sis-TOL'ik) murmur occurs when the

heart muscle contracts. Systolic murmurs are graded by intensity

(loudness) from one to six. A grade 1/6 is very faint, heard only with

a special effort. A grade 6/6 is extremely loud. It's heard with a

stethoscope slightly removed from the chest.

Related AHA publications: Paisley's 3 year old well baby...

Today I took my Paisley for the 3 year old check up.As you all know at a well baby it's all about develomental milestones.. and as far as those goes, we don't follow the charts anymore, or I don't anyway. So that part was uneventful. When we came to where the doc was physically checking out my Paisley, he asked if she had ever seen a Dr for her heart murmur....heart murmur??? What???? No, she has never seen a dr for her heart, I didn't know there was something wrong with it!!!! So now we are waiting on a referral to a Cardiologist. ..has anyone else had this happen??? We just moved to Lubbock and so this Pediatrician we went to was new to us, so he didn't know. I was actually just taking her there to get a referral to an ENT for her. Has anyone else ever had all your drs in the past miss something this important??? I am very concerned and freaked out about this. The dr

said that I shouldn't worry. He said

that it will be okay and that you can only take things one day at a time. I know he is right. I am just a mom...so you know the fear you get if or when someone tells you there is something wrong with your child...scared to death.. Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Mobile. Try it now.

Get easy, one-click access to your favorites. Make your homepage.

[Guest guest]

Both of my children have had murmurs at one point in their lives and then they

have gone

away on their own. My doctor said " Oftentimes the heart is just in a growing

stage and has

grown slightly unevenly and then it catches up and the murmur disappears. "

Good Luck, try not to worry, and be glad you have a doctor who is willing to

send you to

the specialists you need.

CC

>

> Today I took my Paisley for the 3 year old check up.As you all know at a well

baby it's all

about develomental milestones..and as far as those goes, we don't follow the

charts

anymore, or I don't anyway. So that part was uneventful. When we came to where

the doc

was physically checking out my Paisley, he asked if she had ever seen a Dr for

her heart

murmur....heart murmur??? What???? No, she has never seen a dr for her heart,

I didn't

know there was something wrong with it!!!! So now we are waiting on a referral

to a

Cardiologist...has anyone else had this happen??? We just moved to Lubbock and

so this

Pediatrician we went to was new to us, so he didn't know. I was actually just

taking her

there to get a referral to an ENT for her. Has anyone else ever had all your

drs in the past

miss something this important??? I am very concerned and freaked out about

this. The dr

said that I shouldn't worry. He said that it will be okay and that you can only

take things

one

> day at a time. I know he is right. I am just a mom...so you know the fear

you get if or

when someone tells you there is something wrong with your child...scared to

death..

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Mobile. Try it

now.

>

[Guest guest]

I can sympathize with you on this. With my five year old we were

always told he's lazy and just delayed. Since he's our third it

didn't occur that something was wrong. We've switched docs but this

one as well also says just delay. I finally had to ask for a refural

(i truely can't spell) for a nurologist to have him diagnoised. We

thought all along he had mild autism but now find he has aspergers.

So it's good to have them checked.

It is to bad that you had to hear this at a new doctor.

Good luck and I hope everything is fine with Paisley!!

>

> Hello ,

>

> I hope everything is o.k. for your daughter Paisley! And I can

imagine why you would freak out, not knowing anything about this

before. Any mother would freak out, but it probably is not going to

be a big problem. Sometimes I think doctors need to tone it down a

bit before they speak up.

>

> Like once my grandson had swollen glands on his neck, and

his doctor said, " Well then guess we had better check him out for

the " Big C, " meaning cancer! We all about had nervous breakdowns

until the blood test results came back. All it was was he had been

bitten on the forehead by a mosquito when they went camping, and it

swelled up and went to his glands. Evidently some kids, in rare cases

have this reaction to mosquito bites.

>

> I could have done without the comment about the " Big C, " sheesh!

>

> The probabilities of it being something serious are low,

comfort yourself with this, and let us know, we are thinking about

you, and praying for you and your baby girl.

>

> Carolyn

>

>

> Paisley's 3 year old well baby...

>

>

>

> Today I took my Paisley for the 3 year old check up.As you all

know at a well baby it's all about develomental milestones..and as

far as those goes, we don't follow the charts anymore, or I don't

anyway. So that part was uneventful. When we came to where the doc

was physically checking out my Paisley, he asked if she had ever seen

a Dr for her heart murmur....heart murmur??? What???? No, she has

never seen a dr for her heart, I didn't know there was something

wrong with it!!!! So now we are waiting on a referral to a

Cardiologist...has anyone else had this happen??? We just moved to

Lubbock and so this Pediatrician we went to was new to us, so he

didn't know. I was actually just taking her there to get a referral

to an ENT for her. Has anyone else ever had all your drs in the past

miss something this important??? I am very concerned and freaked out

about this. The dr said that I shouldn't worry. He said that it

will be okay and that you can only take things one day at a time. I

know he is right. I am just a mom...so you know the fear you get if

or when someone tells you there is something wrong with your

child...scared to death..

>

>

>

> --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Mobile. Try it now.

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>

>

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[Guest guest]

Hi , my name is kristi i have a 2 and a half yr old with autism she is my first born something just was not right at birth sophie had severe reflux and then she had what i thought was a bad cold but she just did not get better [sophie was born in december] i was scared she had a fever and they said that if she had a fever in the first few weeks she would need to have a spinal tap this scared me but i was a worried mom and thank god my motherly instincts kicked in i showed up at the doctors office at 5pm and met the doctor as she was going out the door she agreed to see us thank god she did sophie has a double ear infection at 3 and a half weeks and they also found a heart murmer.So now after all this rambling sophie is approaching her third birth day still has a heart murmer that they watch and actually so do i and they did not find mine till i was pregnant with her they will probably do an ultrasound of her heart and a ekg sometimes they even go away

on their own but have faith and i will pray that it is nothing serious--------------kristiCarolyn <charper777@...> wrote: Hello , I hope everything is o.k. for your daughter Paisley! And I can imagine why you would freak out, not knowing anything about this before. Any mother would freak out, but it probably is not going to be a big problem. Sometimes I think doctors need to tone it down a bit before they speak up. Like once

my grandson had swollen glands on his neck, and his doctor said, "Well then guess we had better check him out for the "Big C," meaning cancer! We all about had nervous breakdowns until the blood test results came back. All it was was he had been bitten on the forehead by a mosquito when they went camping, and it swelled up and went to his glands. Evidently some kids, in rare cases have this reaction to mosquito bites. I could have done without the comment about the "Big C," sheesh! The probabilities of it being something serious are low, comfort yourself with this, and let us know, we are thinking about you, and praying for you and your baby girl. Carolyn ----- Original

Message ----- From: kelly dawson autism_in_girls ; Autism and Aspergers Treatment ; texas-autism-advocacy Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:51 AM Subject: Paisley's 3 year old well baby... Today I took my Paisley for the 3 year old check up.As you all know at a well baby

it's all about develomental milestones..and as far as those goes, we don't follow the charts anymore, or I don't anyway. So that part was uneventful. When we came to where the doc was physically checking out my Paisley, he asked if she had ever seen a Dr for her heart murmur....heart murmur??? What???? No, she has never seen a dr for her heart, I didn't know there was something wrong with it!!!! So now we are waiting on a referral to a Cardiologist...has anyone else had this happen??? We just moved to Lubbock and so this Pediatrician we went to was new to us, so he didn't know. I was actually just taking her there to get a referral to an ENT for her. Has anyone else ever had all your drs in the past miss something this important??? I am very concerned and freaked out about this. The dr said that I shouldn't worry. He said that it will be okay and that you can only take things one day at a

time. I know he is right. I am just a mom...so you know the fear you get if or when someone tells you there is something wrong with your child...scared to death.. Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Mobile. Try it now. No viruses found in this outgoing messageScanned by iolo AntiVirus 1.1.15.10http://www.iolo.com

Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside . See how.

[Guest guest]

Hi , my name is kristi i have a 2 and a half yr old with autism she is my first born something just was not right at birth sophie had severe reflux and then she had what i thought was a bad cold but she just did not get better [sophie was born in december] i was scared she had a fever and they said that if she had a fever in the first few weeks she would need to have a spinal tap this scared me but i was a worried mom and thank god my motherly instincts kicked in i showed up at the doctors office at 5pm and met the doctor as she was going out the door she agreed to see us thank god she did sophie has a double ear infection at 3 and a half weeks and they also found a heart murmer.So now after all this rambling sophie is approaching her third birth day still has a heart murmer that they watch and actually so do i and they did not find mine till i was pregnant with her they will probably do an ultrasound of her heart and a ekg sometimes they even go away

on their own but have faith and i will pray that it is nothing serious--------------kristiCarolyn <charper777@...> wrote: Hello , I hope everything is o.k. for your daughter Paisley! And I can imagine why you would freak out, not knowing anything about this before. Any mother would freak out, but it probably is not going to be a big problem. Sometimes I think doctors need to tone it down a bit before they speak up. Like once

my grandson had swollen glands on his neck, and his doctor said, "Well then guess we had better check him out for the "Big C," meaning cancer! We all about had nervous breakdowns until the blood test results came back. All it was was he had been bitten on the forehead by a mosquito when they went camping, and it swelled up and went to his glands. Evidently some kids, in rare cases have this reaction to mosquito bites. I could have done without the comment about the "Big C," sheesh! The probabilities of it being something serious are low, comfort yourself with this, and let us know, we are thinking about you, and praying for you and your baby girl. Carolyn ----- Original

Message ----- From: kelly dawson autism_in_girls ; Autism and Aspergers Treatment ; texas-autism-advocacy Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:51 AM Subject: Paisley's 3 year old well baby... Today I took my Paisley for the 3 year old check up.As you all know at a well baby

it's all about develomental milestones..and as far as those goes, we don't follow the charts anymore, or I don't anyway. So that part was uneventful. When we came to where the doc was physically checking out my Paisley, he asked if she had ever seen a Dr for her heart murmur....heart murmur??? What???? No, she has never seen a dr for her heart, I didn't know there was something wrong with it!!!! So now we are waiting on a referral to a Cardiologist...has anyone else had this happen??? We just moved to Lubbock and so this Pediatrician we went to was new to us, so he didn't know. I was actually just taking her there to get a referral to an ENT for her. Has anyone else ever had all your drs in the past miss something this important??? I am very concerned and freaked out about this. The dr said that I shouldn't worry. He said that it will be okay and that you can only take things one day at a

time. I know he is right. I am just a mom...so you know the fear you get if or when someone tells you there is something wrong with your child...scared to death.. Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Mobile. Try it now. No viruses found in this outgoing messageScanned by iolo AntiVirus 1.1.15.10http://www.iolo.com

Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside . See how.

[Guest guest]

I babysit a little boy who is nearly 3. He has a heart murmur but his mother says it's nothing to worry about. They have to have him checked by a specialist once a year but I think once he is three he doesn't have to see the specialist any more, or maybe not quite so often. Anyway, the doctor told them it is quite common and will probably never affect him at all. I hope the same is true for your little Paisley.!

Estevan, SK

Canada

-- Re: Paisley's 3 year old well baby...

Hello ,

I hope everything is o.k. for your daughter Paisley! And I can imagine why you would freak out, not knowing anything about this before. Any mother would freak out, but it probably is not going to be a big problem. Sometimes I think doctors need to tone it down a bit before they speak up.

Like once my grandson had swollen glands on his neck, and his doctor said, "Well then guess we had better check him out for the "Big C," meaning cancer! We all about had nervous breakdowns until the blood test results came back. All it was was he had been bitten on the forehead by a mosquito when they went camping, and it swelled up and went to his glands. Evidently some kids, in rare cases have this reaction to mosquito bites.

I could have done without the comment about the "Big C," sheesh!

The probabilities of it being something serious are low, comfort yourself with this, and let us know, we are thinking about you, and praying for you and your baby girl.

Carolyn

Paisley's 3 year old well baby...

Today I took my Paisley for the 3 year old check up.As you all know at a well baby it's all about develomental milestones..and as far as those goes, we don't follow the charts anymore, or I don't anyway. So that part was uneventful. When we came to where the doc was physically checking out my Paisley, he asked if she had ever seen a Dr for her heart murmur....heart murmur??? What???? No, she has never seen a dr for her heart, I didn't know there was something wrong with it!!!! So now we are waiting on a referral to a Cardiologist...has anyone else had this happen??? We just moved to Lubbock and so this Pediatrician we went to was new to us, so he didn't know. I was actually just taking her there to get a referral to an ENT for her. Has anyone else ever had all your drs in the past miss something this important??? I am very concerned and freaked out about this. The dr said that I shouldn't worry. He said that it will be okay and that you can only take things one day at a time. I know he is right. I am just a mom...so you know the fear you get if or when someone tells you there is something wrong with your child...scared to death..

Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Mobile. Try it now.

No viruses found in this outgoing messageScanned by iolo AntiVirus 1.1.15.10http://www.iolo.com

[Guest guest]

Hello ,

I hope everything is o.k. for your daughter Paisley! And I can imagine why you would freak out, not knowing anything about this before. Any mother would freak out, but it probably is not going to be a big problem. Sometimes I think doctors need to tone it down a bit before they speak up.

Like once my grandson had swollen glands on his neck, and his doctor said, "Well then guess we had better check him out for the "Big C," meaning cancer! We all about had nervous breakdowns until the blood test results came back. All it was was he had been bitten on the forehead by a mosquito when they went camping, and it swelled up and went to his glands. Evidently some kids, in rare cases have this reaction to mosquito bites.

I could have done without the comment about the "Big C," sheesh!

The probabilities of it being something serious are low, comfort yourself with this, and let us know, we are thinking about you, and praying for you and your baby girl.

Carolyn

Paisley's 3 year old well baby...

Today I took my Paisley for the 3 year old check up.As you all know at a well baby it's all about develomental milestones..and as far as those goes, we don't follow the charts anymore, or I don't anyway. So that part was uneventful. When we came to where the doc was physically checking out my Paisley, he asked if she had ever seen a Dr for her heart murmur....heart murmur??? What???? No, she has never seen a dr for her heart, I didn't know there was something wrong with it!!!! So now we are waiting on a referral to a Cardiologist...has anyone else had this happen??? We just moved to Lubbock and so this Pediatrician we went to was new to us, so he didn't know. I was actually just taking her there to get a referral to an ENT for her. Has anyone else ever had all your drs in the past miss something this important??? I am very concerned and freaked out about this. The dr said that I shouldn't worry. He said that it will be okay and that you can only take things one day at a time. I know he is right. I am just a mom...so you know the fear you get if or when someone tells you there is something wrong with your child...scared to death..

Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Mobile. Try it now.

No viruses found in this outgoing messageScanned by iolo AntiVirus 1.1.15.10http://www.iolo.com