February is heart research month and the McLoughlin family decided to share seven-year-old Cooper’s story to raise awareness of heart disease in children. Cooper is a registered Heart Kid of NSW, and this Saturday, February 14 is Sweetheart Day, a national day supporting families like the McLoughlins.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Most seven-year-old boys are outside playing with their friends, nursing pushbike wounds and dreaming of becoming their favourite superhero when they grow up.
But not little Cooper McLoughlin, who is facing the harsh reality that he may require heart surgery every 10 years for the rest of his life.
The once outgoing and active child first displayed signs of heart problems at just two years old and has since been described as a “complex case”.
“He was normally a very active kid but Cooper was becoming really fatigued,” Cooper’s mum, Mel said.
“There’s not really a clear pathway for him, it’s a complex case, they’ve never seen a child with both conditions.”
- Mel McLoughlin
“We took him to the doctors and they didn’t really know what was wrong with him.
“The doctor listened to his heart and found a murmur and admitted him to hospital.”
Cooper’s parents, Matt and Mel, were referred to a paedatrician in Armidale, where Cooper was diagnosed with aortic stenosis – a narrowing of the aortic valve.
“We were sent away to return for a four-month check-up,” Mel said.
“It became severe after that.”
At just two-and-a-half, Cooper underwent a balloon dilation of the aortic valve at Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney.
“It means that it basically busts it [the valve] open,” Mel said.
“The risk of this operation was that he would form a leak, which meant blood would travel out and the valve wouldn’t close properly.
“Over the years, the leak has become significantly worse, putting stress on his heart.”
Cooper’s parents were told he would need a valve replacement at some point.
“They use the pulmonary valve in place of the aortic valve, it’s a double replacement requiring open heart surgery, with a long recovery,” Mel said.
“He will need numerous replacements every 7-10 years for the rest of his life and repairs throughout.
“The doctors are trying to delay the surgery as long as possible to decrease scar tissue problems and the number of surgeries he will need in the long term.
“They keep telling us that one day we will walk in and we won’t get the good news and he will have to have the surgery.”
Cooper’s heart problems didn’t stop there.
In September last year, Cooper was eating above average, but had stopped all physical activity, which Mel said wasn’t normal for her usually active son.
“I just felt there was something wrong,” Mel said.
“I took him to the GP and they did a thyroid test and others, which all came back fine.
“I rang one of his specialists in Sydney to say I was worried and they suggested a halter monitor – a 24-hour test which came back abnormal,” she said.
Cooper was showing episodes of ventricular tachycardia (VT), a type of arrhythmia where the heart beats at an abnormally fast rate.
A heart rhythm disorder specialist ordered an echocardiogram and put Cooper through a stress test, where he was required to run on a treadmill, while hooked up to a number of machines.
Cooper suffered three VT episodes in just 15 minutes and was officially diagnosed with the condition.
“With the fast heart rate his blood pressure becomes really low and he could collapse, pass out or go into cardiac arrest needing defibrillation,” Mel said.
“I was trained in CPR before we even left the hospital.”
A number of opinions have been given from doctors and specialists on Cooper’s case, but the outcome still remains unclear.
“Our doctor consulted a specialist in Boston who said he doesn’t think the two conditions are related and wants us to watch and wait as surgeries can sometimes do more harm than good,” Mel said.
“He will have another halter monitor today and we have requested an MRI as they are worried about the thickening of the heart wall.
“There’s not really a clear pathway for him, it’s a complex case, they’ve never seen a child with both conditions.
“Every time we go back to the doctor we think this is the day our life changes, but we don’t know what will fix him and we have to put all our trust in the opinions of doctors who we have never even met.”
Mel said she was constantly worried about Cooper because slight physical activity caused his heart to “nearly beat right out of his chest”.
“The school is on watch and I worry every time he travels on the bus to school, what if something happened in that half an hour?” Mel said.
“We have to watch him around children who are sick as an infection can go straight to his heart causing more problems.
“I worry about the complications of things – the surgery and what if he collapses? We live 15km from town and six hours from a major hospital.
“You always think you will be that statistic.
“When he was first diagnosed, we thought we were the unluckiest people and you think why does this happen, but then we go to Westmead and we think we are lucky because we still have a little boy that can run around and smile – sometimes it’s just so hard.”
The Red Cross has campaigned to introduce defibrillators into sporting clubs across Australia and is now looking into bringing them into schools.
Mel registered interest for a defibrillator for Cooper’s school this week and was granted approval.
“I was looking into fund-raising for a defibrillator for the school so I’m excited this grant was approved so quickly,” Mel said.
“It’s a little more piece of mind if something goes wrong while he is at school. Every minute is precious.”
