By KATLYN PROCTOR
Eagle Times Associate Editor
CLAREMONT, N.H. — On a chilly Saturday morning at Healthy Connections, Tanner Varnum, 7, and his mom sit side by side on a comfy zebra-patterned couch. His shirt says, “Keep Smiling” and with the impressive breakfast shake in front of him, how could he not be?
Born with a heart defect and having special in utero care beginning at 20 weeks old, Tanner is just like every other 7-year-old, full of laughter with a love of Nerf guns and RC cars.
With American Heart Month upon us, and Congenital Heart Defect Week (Feb. 7-14) ending, Tanner, with the help of his mom, Harmony, shares his story.
‘FIVE CONDITIONS ROLLED INTO ONE’
Despite all that appears, Tanner is a lucky young boy, having open heart surgery at just 24 hours old with a pacemaker added at eight weeks. Harmony Varnum had one hour to spend with Tanner after he was born before he was whisked to a different Boston hospital for his heart procedure.
“We have limited pictures of him with no holes in chest because I was in one hospital and he was in another,” said Harmony. “But it [the surgery] was successful.”
Diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare condition affecting roughly 20,000 patients, and pulmonary atresia, Harmony’s team of physicians — spread out from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to Manchester, New Hampshire, to Boston, Massachusetts — spent countless hours monitoring Tanner in utero and afterward.
“We were really fortunate to have an amazing ultrasound tech that just picked it right up,” said Harmony, explaining how Tanner’s illness could have been a lot worse if undetected.
Thirteen days later, on Feb. 19, Tanner would make it to Claremont for the first time. Living with his parents, his older brother Parker and two stepsisters, life was a little different for Tanner.
It wasn’t but eight weeks later before Tanner landed back in the hospital for heart block with a pacemaker to rectify it.
“His heart rate was under 50 beats per minute (bpm) at only eight weeks old, so he ended up with a pacemaker,” said Harmony. “It was really scary because here we were at Children’s waiting to see what was going to happen.”
In 2021, Tanner had the pacemaker replaced after a fluke in its chamber caused it to break, sending him to the ER with only 54 bpm and dizzy spells.
A MODERN-DAY SUPERHERO
Today, Tanner’s like a walking Tony Stark, wearing a device that helps regulate his heart. Unlike Iron Man, though, you can’t see it. But Tanner knows it’s there.
“It feels fine. Sometimes it feels funny. It beeps,” he said. As Harmony explains, it flutters.
At some point, he’ll need a new heart valve thanks to the pulmonary atresia, but for now, it’s regular uploads to his doctor every three months. If needed, Tanner and his mom and can do an upload to see if anything is askew.
“It shows the doctors,” said Tanner. “This is the machine, beep.”
“He will have to have continued pacemaker lead changeouts,” added Harmony. “He will eventually need a heart valve as his heart grows.”
And thanks to his older brother, Parker, landing in the ICN upon birth, Harmony had a little trial by fire.
“Had I not gone through that with him, I don’t know if I could have been as strong for him [Tanner],” she said.
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