Jeremiah Hiser

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Jeremiah was admitted to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at Children's Hospital of Colorado after being diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and heart failure. 

Our sweet boy was battling a cold and ear infection since 12/23. We were celebrating Christmas in the mountains in Crested Butte, CO when we made a visit to the medical clinical. We were concerned about his cough and other cold symptoms. Little J was placed on antibiotics and started to feel better after a few doses. After we returned home, he was still running a fever and pulling at his ears. A trip to his pediatrician's office determined his ear infection had not healed so they started a different class of antibiotics. Three days into the treatment, he was still running a fever. The next course of action was to administer a stronger antibiotic via intramuscular injection over the next 2 days. Little J seemed to feel better, ears were healing, and he was almost back to his happy self. 
Thursday, 1/10, we took him to school and later that morning we received a call that he was vomiting and not acting himself. No fever, but he was sleepy and seemed uncomfortable. Into the evening, we became a little wary of his condition and took him to the after-hours pediatric clinic. His ears looked infected again and he was vomiting. Little J was given a third dose of the antibiotic injection and a medication to help with vomiting. 
He was fussy and restless during the night and drowsy Friday morning. We were concerned enough about his condition to take him to his pediatrician. Dr. Nick promptly called the Children's Emergency Department to report his findings to the ER attending, Dr. Tara. It was pretty incredible the swift decline of Jeremiah's health from the time Dr. Nick saw him on Wednesday to Thursday night/Friday morning. Kids are pretty amazing when it comes to severe illness. Their bodies do so well at compensating that it can take a bit of time before you even suspect serious illness. The downside - they go downhill fast. 
After a battery of tests in the emergency room, it was determined Jeremiah had an enlarged heart and evidence of heart failure. Dr. Tara arranged critical care transport to the cardiac intensive care unit at Children's Hospital Colorado where we were met by a team of doctors, nurses, NPs, PAs, respiratory therapists, and care assistants to determine the cause of the cardiomyopathy and heart failure and the best plan of action to treat. 
The cardiologists, Dr. Kim, Dr. Soohoo, and Dr. Ibrahim, along with the interventional cardiologist, cardiothoracic surgeon (and an array of other specialists) decided to perform a cardiac catheterization to determine the cause and treat any findings as necessary. During the catheterization, little J's heart became more irritated with erratic rhythms. The doctors referred to the abnormal beats as a "malignant rhythm" and determined that little J would best be cared for using the ECMO machine (similar to the heart and lung bypass machine). It pumps and oxygenates his blood outside his body to let his heart and lungs rest.