Newsletter
Pediatric Cardiology
Spring 2014
Spring Is Here!!
In This Issue
Spring Forward
Less to Love & Beyond
Introducing Dr. Hazle
Statesville Clinic Change
Thank goodness for spring! It has been a long winter filled with snow
and ice, and even Northerners like myself whole heartedly welcome this
part of the year. Something changes in our minds and attitudes when
we feel the warmer air, see the trees beginning to bloom and the tulips
open and proudly display their white and yellow faces toward the sun.
Knowing the days are getting longer and having it be lighter outside at
the end of our days ushers in a sense of well being and happiness.
Well, I hope you remembered to spring forward. If not you are an hour
late reading this newsletter.
In January we talked and thought about resolutions. If you are in the
majority, by now most (if not all) of your resolutions have fallen by the
wayside. I like to think of spring as a new beginning, a second chance.
As the trees, plants, and flowers have lain dormant through the winter
but now are bursting to life, so should our hopes, dreams, and attitudes
burst to life. How are you doing? How am I doing? Perhaps we can
make this time of year a bit of a gut check. Are we happy? Are we
thankful? Are we content? Are we spending our days investing our lives
in what we are truly passionate about? Things which make a difference
in our loved ones' lives, our neighborhoods, our towns, our cities, or the
world at large? Are we primarily a positive influence or are we a
downer? Is what we are doing working or do we need a change? What
is holding us back? My challenge for us is to be doers this spring. Let's
take control and make the necessary and long awaited changes each of
us needs to live better. No more excuses! What an awesome example
for the world to see.
Will you join me?
1
Wake Forest Baptist Health Brenner Children’s Hospital / Pediatric Cardiology Newsletter
Less to Love & Beyond
I would like to take this opportunity
to congratulate each of you who
took part in the Less to Love
Challenge. I am told an average of
10 pounds was lost. That is no small
feat, so well done! Keep up the good
work! Easier said than done? Well
let's take a minute and discuss what
each of us can do to continue the
success we have had.
I have heard it said it takes 30
consecutive days to form a habit over and over again for one month
straight. Well, if you are like me, 30
days kind of seems a bit long. We
live in a fast paced world and want
to see results NOW! So what are we
to do? Well, the good news is, the
30 day theory is up for debate. No
one really knows how many days
forming a habit takes, or if missing
days here and there makes a
difference. Instead of a habit, lets
you and me think about goals.
Goals
More effective than focusing on
forming a habit is establishing goals.
We need both short- and long-term
goals to keep us going. Therefore,
the first step in any meaningful
progress is defining our goals. I am
going to stick with the "healthier
you" goal here, but goals can be
established for any area of our lives.
So let's make our over arching goal
continued weight loss. Now we need
to break it down further. How much
per week? How much per month?
How much over this next year?
Now that we have our goals, how do
we reach them?
In the last newsletter I discussed
"tipping the scale." In order for
weight loss to occur, the calories we
take in each day needs to be less
2
than what we burn off each day. So
let's start by aiming our focus on our
intake. Simply put, what we place in
our bodies each day. To be
conscious of this we need to have a
basic understanding of what our
foods are made up of.
Macronutrients
There are three main components
which make up the majority of all the
foods we eat: fats, carbohydrates
(sugars), and protein. These are
called macronutrients. The basic
rule for weight reduction (fat loss) is
getting the majority of our daily
calories from lean proteins (chicken,
fish, and lean beef). Each gram of
protein we eat gives us 4 calories.
This is true for 1 gram of
carbohydrates as well.
Unfortunately, 1 gram of fat gives us
9 calories (more to burn off).
Another good rule is to get most of
our carbohydrate in toward the
morning (so we have the rest of our
active day to use them rather than
store them) and get good fats into
our diet. Good fats are the fats in
fish (or fish oils), nuts, and naturally
occurring oils. This rules out
processed oils, whichare what most
fast/fried foods are made in.
Food Labels
So in order to be good food
consumers, we need to understand
how to read food labels. To keep it
simple, the "need to know" are
calories, calories from fat, total
carbohydrates, and protein. We
should aim for low total calorie foods
with a small percentage from fat and
as much protein as we can get.
Likely these choices will be low in
cholesterol and salt as well (think
water retention).
The Burn
Can you feel the burn? If not go
further and try harder. To burn off
more calories per day we need to
keep moving. Moving means
burning. Continue your regular
exercise routine, but add movement.
Take the stairs instead of the
elevator, take 15 minute breaks from
your desk and go for a walk. Have
fun with it. Jump rope with a child, or
how about good old jumping jacks
while you’re at it. Take a look at your
day and see how making small
changes to be more active could
add up to huge gains in calorie burn.
Water
Drink as much and all the water you
can. It is calorie free, filling, and has
many benefits such as good looking
skin, muscle recovery & growth, and
good kidney health, to name a few.
Accountability
Wake Forest Baptist Health Brenner Children’s Hospital / Pediatric Cardiology Newsletter
Now this could be a very intimidating
word but when it comes to reaching
goals accountability is proven time
and time again to be effective. So
share your goals with a trusted
someone who will hold you
accountable. This could be a
workout partner, a family member, a
friend, even an online community
reaching for the same goals.
Success
Let's agree we will measure success
as reach or goals. Now it may not be
a point A to point B straight line for
each of us. Many of us will zig and
zag, have ups and downs on our
journey and that my friend is 100%
OK! For that is pretty much life as
we live it. So when you get off
course remember your goals.
Picture them in your head, write
them down, and post them on your
bathroom mirror. Remember why
you started in the first place. "I want
to be healthier." I want to be a role
model to … (you fill in the blank)."
Each day is a new opportunity to be
closer to whom you were made to
be. We can do this. We will be
successful and reach our goals.
Here's to a healthier us.
Introducing
Matt Hazle, M.D
We are excited to introduce to you
Dr. Matthew Hazle. Dr. Hazle
joined our team about a year and a
half ago now and has been a
tremendous addition. He graduated
from medical school at Case
Western, and then went on to The
University of Colorado Children’s
Hospital to train during his Pediatric
Residency. From there he trained
in Pediatric Cardiology and
Pediatric Electrophysiology at The
University of Michigan Children’s
Hospital. He has brought all the
expertise he learned during his
time there to join us at Brenner
Children’s Hospital and our team of
Pediatric Cardiology specialists.
Dr. Hazle’s expertise is the realm
of heart rhythm problems. Prior to
Dr. Hazle’s arrival, Brenner
Children’s Hospital did not have a
3
pediatric sub-specialist in this field.
Dr. Hazle is an expert in reading
EKGs, stress tests, holter and
event monitors, as well as caring
for arrhythmias and heart blocks,
including offering procedures such
as pacemaker implantation and
heart catheterizations to rid the
heart of recurring arrhythmias
(catheter ablation). He also
practices general Pediatric
Cardiology.
Arrhythmias
With Dr. Hazle joining us, Brenner
Children’s Hospital is one of the
few children’s hospitals in the state
that offers a Pediatric & Congenital
Electrophysiology Program. Heart
arrhythmias range from hearts
which beat too slow (bradycardia)
to hearts which beat too fast
(tachycardia). Bradycardia can
occur for many reasons but needs
to be treated if it causes symptoms
such as fatigue, dizziness, or
passing out. Some types of heart
blocks cause these slow heart
rates. Tachycardia also has many
causes but typically has more
worrisome origins. Supraventricular
tachycardia (SVT), ventricular
tachycardia, and atrial rhythms
such as atrial fibrillation and flutter
are these types of rhythm
disturbances. Often these
arrhythmias require medications to
suppress them. Alternatively, a
heart catheterization can be
performed to specifically map the
origin of the arrhythmia inside the
heart then apply a hot or cold
catheter to rid the heart of the
arrhythymia focus.
Fainting
Another area where Dr. Hazle has
expertise is fainting. Syncope
(fainting) can be caused by a host
of issues. Most are fairly benign but
some can be fatal. Dr. Hazle is an
expert at working up patients who
faint secondary to genetic causes
in the rhythm centers of the heart
such as prolonged Q-T syndrome
which can cause sudden death. He
often works with our Pediatric
Genetics department to best
diagnose and treat patients with
this genetic disorder
I hope some of you have had the
pleasure to meet, interact with, and
be cared for by Dr. Hazle already,
and for those that have not please
help us welcome him as part of our
family for the betterment of us and
our patients (your loved ones).
For more information about Dr.
Hazle please visit:
http://brennerchildrens.org/Pediatri
Wake Forest Baptist Health Brenner Children’s Hospital / Pediatric Cardiology Newsletter
c-Cardiology/
.
Statesville Clinic Change
We are excited to let you know we
have decided to increase our
presence in Hickory, N.C. as well
as Winston-Salem at Brenner
Children’s Hospital. In order to do
so we have made the difficult
decision to close our clinic in
Statesville. It is sadness we say
goodbye to our clinic there and the
many years and many fond
memories we have had serving
and caring for you at that location.
We are excited because increasing
our presence in Hickory and at
Brenner allows us to offer an even
higher quality of service and care
moving into the future. Both
locations have top notch facilities
and staff and will have available
state of the art technology available
to perform echocardiograms,
.
EKGs, and other arrhythmia
monitoring equipment, as well as
onsite laboratories. Also, each
location has direct access to your
electronic medical record which
allows us to see all your medical
history to best partner with you and
other medical professionals who
care for you.
Hickory as well when Dr. Raines
has other obligations.
No worries if you already have an
appointment scheduled at the
Statesville office. In the very near
future, you will receive a call from
us to reschedule you to either
Hickory or Brenner Children’s
Hospital. Dr. Karen Raines has
historically been our team member
who has provided care at the
Statesville office so she will be
heading to Hickory. From time to
time others of our team will head to
If you have questions or concerns
regarding this change please feel
free to contact Dr. Derek Williams,
Chief of Pediatric Cardiology
through My Wake Health or 336713-4500.
In addition to this Newsletter and
our call to reschedule, you will
receive a separate letter explaining
the changes as well as a map to
guide you to our locations for your
next visit with us.
We are excited to see you next
time, offer even higher quality care,
and show off these locations. See
you soon.
The Wrap up
We wish you a wonderful spring
filled with tremendous leaps and
bounds toward your health goals.
Next quarter’s Newsletter will
highlight tips about staying safe with
congenital heart disease through the
summer months (swimming, hot
weather, and beyond). We will
spotlight our Fetal Heart Program
and the advantages of knowing your
child has a heart defect before birth
as well as what to look for when
choosing a program for Pediatric
and Congenital Heart Surgery.
comments please send them to us.
Also, we would love to hear about
what topics you would like to
discuss in future newsletters. Please
send them to Dr. Derek Williams at
dewillia@wakehealth.edu.
Final thought:
I would be true, for there are those
who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those
who care.
I would be strong, for there are
those who suffer.
I would be brave, for there is much
to dare.
I would be a friend of all-the foe, the
friendless.
I would be giving, and forget the gift;
I would be humble, for I know my
weakness;
I would look up, and laugh, and love,
and lift.
We would like to hear from you. If
you have suggestions, concerns, or
4
Wake Forest Baptist Health Brenner Children’s Hospital / Pediatric Cardiology Newsletter