Young athlete doesn't miss a beat after heart surgery
Brendan Galella, Times Correspondent
In Print: Friday, July 4, 2008
Brian Boehm, 7, plays tennis at Land O’Lakes Recreation Complex just seven months after getting a pacemaker because of Patent Foramen Ovale, a small hole in the heart that lets a fetus breathes in the womb that failed to close at birth.
Brian Boehm has managed to conceal the scar on his chest with a huge smile on his face.
Seven months after having a pacemaker installed to help regulate his heartbeat, Brian is playing soccer with his friends, basketball in his driveway and earning his blue belt in karate.
The 5-inch gash from his surgery essentially disappears every time he throws on his Tampa Bay Buccaneers shirt and decides to tackle a new sport.
The latest on the 7-year-old's agenda is tennis. Since he picked up the sport a month ago, Brian plays for an hour a day and has watched the game on television to improve his skill.
"Sometimes I wish I could run around the world so it'll be 24 hours later and I can play tennis again," Brian said. "It's so much fun to play."
For the first four years of his life, Brian was a normal child who liked to run around the house playing with his parents and two older sisters.
Brian's life changed while playing with his grandmother in the back yard. He had to stop the game because he said he had "boom booms" in his chest. When a similar sensation happened the next day, he was taken to a cardiologist to diagnose the problem.
Tests showed he had second-degree blockage combined with a hole in his heart known as Patent Foramen Ovale.
For Brian, the problem happens while sleeping. As his mother explained it, when he goes to bed, his heart tries to take a nap with him.
Most people can have the hole closed and go on to live a normal life. But Brian is allergic to nickel, which is in the component used during surgery, so the operation couldn't be performed.
For the past three years, Brian's parents and doctors kept a close eye on his condition, hoping to avoid installing a pacemaker.
On Dec. 18, Brian's mother, Karen Boehm, had difficulty waking him. Overnight his heart rate dropped to 21 (a normal resting heart rate is 60-80 beats per minute) and he was going into sudden death.
"I was told that I had an angel on my shoulder that I didn't go get a cup of coffee, do the laundry or anything. I was lucky that I woke him up right then and there," Karen said. "If I waited a minute or two longer, he would have died."
Eight days later, the pacemaker was installed and, according to Brian, the toughest part of the surgery was resisting the Nintendo Wii he was given at Christmas.
"I couldn't play it because I couldn't put my hands over my head," Brian said. "It was also tough at night because that's usually how I sleep."
Brian kept up with all of his schoolwork while in the hospital, even surpassing many of his classmates in reading, and is now enjoying the summer before starting second grade in August.
The biggest surprise is how positive Brian remains. During his stay in the hospital, he never complained about all of the treatments he had to receive and the only thing negative he had to say was he didn't like needles or the IV.
With limited options for physical activity, Brian is spending his summer swimming as well as playing tennis, soccer and karate. When playing the rougher games, he wears an adult thigh pad as a chest protector.
But that smile always remains on his face.
"He's a really responsible kid," Karen said. "He carries his (information) card, wears his chest protector and will check with me before playing any games with his friends to make sure it's okay. He's amazing."
Submit story ideas, feedback to bgalella@gmail.com.
Fast Facts
Patent Foramen Ovale
What: a small hole in the heart that enables a fetus to breathe while in the womb and normally closes after birth. The prevalence of PFO is about 25 percent in the general population.
Symptoms of PFO
Weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg on one side of the body.
Loss of vision or dimming (like a curtain falling) in one or both eyes.
Loss of speech, difficulty talking or understanding what others are saying.
Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.
Loss of balance, unstable walking, usually combined with another symptom.
Source: The Cleveland Clinic
>>Fast facts
Patent Foramen Ovale
What it is: A small hole in the heart, which enables a fetus to breathe in the womb, that hasn't closed at birth as it normally does. The prevalence of PFO is about 25 percent in the general population.
Symptoms of PFO:
• Weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg on one side of the body.
• Loss of vision or dimming (like a curtain falling) in one or both eyes.
• Loss of speech, difficulty talking or understanding what others are saying.
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.
• Loss of balance, unstable walking, usually combined with another symptom.
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