Care Team, Minnesota Vikings Team Up to Make Young Patient's Dreams Come True

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Apr 22, 2019 | Katrina Sorensen, Research Coordinator | @katrinasorensen

This story originally appeared on the In the Loop blog.

For three strenuous years, Jaren Berg's parents, Michelle and Daniel Berg, watched helplessly as their son suffered seizure and after seizure, despite continuous efforts to increase his epilepsy medication.

Finally, the Berg's had had enough. They traveled to Mayo Clinic's Rochester campus, where specialists worked together to realize that epilepsy wasn't the cause of his seizures at all. Instead, a genetic heart-rhythm disorder called Long QT syndrome was to blame. The director of the Genetic Heart Rhythm Clinic, Dr. Michael Ackerman, confirmed this diagnosis and put Jaren on an individualized treatment plan.

This plan, which included more testing and two surgeries, changed Jaren's life for the better. Yet, Dr. Ackerman wasn't quite satisfied; he could see that this was a lot to handle for such a young boy. While Jaren recovered in the ICU, wrapped in a Minnesota Vikings blanket he'd made himself, Dr. Ackerman made the decision to nominate him to receive a once-in-a-lifetime experience from the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Continue reading this story on the In the Loop blog.

Join the Heart Rhythm Conditions group or the Heart & Blood Health group to talk to and support others with heart conditions.