JadenLayne and I would like to know.......

[paigevz]

.....if you wondered if your child had a congenital heart defect that can cause heart failure of some type, (like the one who died on RNRC) would you be able to rule that out (for the most part) experientially by having had your child on previous amusement park rides in sports and so on? Or would it be just a ticking time bomb and you would never know when or if it would happen?

Any medical people?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Not medical--but with the athletes in sports that die suddenly--they were doing fine sometimes for years before anything happened .

Someone posted about Sergei (forget the last name)--the Olympic couples skater.

I'm not sure if amusement park rides are the same--but in his case..he was world class level before something happened .

 

[JadenLayne]

Thanks Paige for posting this!

You know I'm really seriously thinking of having my Dr. perform an EKG on our teenager just to be safe. Of course I know that sometimes an EKG won't show everything but if it was normal it would at least be a start.

My son is so active, he plays every sport he can play and rides every coaster he can get on. Hes already made us promise to spend a day at Bush Gardens in September when we go to Disney so he can ride the "BIG" coasters. Since this little boy passed away I have to admit I'm scared. I may be overreacting but hes my baby!

Do we have any Pediatricians on the board? I would love advice, as I'm sure other parents would.

 

[paigevz]

So, really, what can you do? Nothing, right, you have to live your life.........you can't tell your 12 year old he can't do something because maybe there's something wrong with your heart or your brain or your blood vessels that we don't know about.......................

It's just so sad for that family.................................

 

[NCRedding]

I replied on the other thread that went poof, so here is my limited knowledge. Most heart defects are not easily detectible. My mother has cardiomyopathy which was not detected by an EKG, but only when she had a heart catherization, which is expensive and can be very dangerous.

I had a friend whose son just passed away from cardiomyopathy; his was diagnosed at 13, and he was on heart medication. He passed away while playing basketball at 18.

It is my limited understanding that an EKG detects the pattern of the heart, but the heart may not always be pumping in detectible ways. In other words, the EKG is a picture or screen of the heart beat, not of the actual heart itself. I am sure a medical professional could explain it better.

 

[VampHeartless]

I think, there are a number of childhood illnesses/defects that can appear/disappear at random. I mean, I've heard stories of people dying of asthma that disappeared for decades, then randomly reappeared as adults. You'd worry yourself sick trying to find each and every single illness your child could possibly have. Sometimes you just have to trust things to God.

 

[Dan Murphy]

........Do we have any Pediatricians on the board? I would love advice, as I'm sure other parents would.

Deb in IA

 

[AuntieM03]

Not medical--but with the athletes in sports that die suddenly--they were doing fine sometimes for years before anything happened .

Someone posted about Sergei (forget the last name)--the Olympic couples skater.

I'm not sure if amusement park rides are the same--but in his case..he was world class level before something happened .

It was Sergei Grinkov. I think he was 28, and had some testing done because his father died of a heart attack. Apparently whatever tests he had were not the correct ones to find his condition.

 

[paigevz]

My younger brother has PAT.........don't ask me for the words! Anyway, it's a problem with the normal rhythm.........his heart beats abnormally fast at times. There does not seem to be an obvious trigger, though he has said that strenuous exercise when he is out of shape will do it, but other times it just comes on. He was diagnosed at age 5. The only real treatment for it is to stay in top physical condition.

My mother was just diagnosed with the same thing, and she wasn't diagnosed until past age 60. They put her on beta blockers (and little bro was on tranquilizers when he was very young as the attacks were so frequent...........apparently keeping calm helps).

I have had small instances when my heart has raced for no apparent reason........only happened a handful of times, but has been since I've turned 30.

Does this mean our kids have a greater chance of having this same rhythm problem? Would this problem give them trouble in sports or on stressful rides or is it "merely an inconvenience" which is what my brother says?

 

[JadenLayne]

Vamp I've heard of that too, with asthma. Your right though. There is a little boy in my sons class who is always sick. He has had a bazillion tests and the Drs. say hes fine. His mom started this when he was a baby and it has continued to high school. So now, because of the mom this boy (and his sister too actually) are hypochondriacs. I don't want my son to be like that.

I still think I'll talk to my Dr. about this. My son has to have his yearly physical for football soon anyway. It won't hurt to ask and get his opinions.

 

[paigevz]

I think, there are a number of childhood illnesses/defects that can appear/disappear at random. I mean, I've heard stories of people dying of asthma that disappeared for decades, then randomly reappeared as adults. You'd worry yourself sick trying to find each and every single illness your child could possibly have. Sometimes you just have to trust things to God.

Yes, true, very hard to do, but I do aspire to it! I am a worry-wart, I admit. I don't let it make decisions for me, but I do worry. I seek reassurance at those times, which I am sure is why I am posting about it!

 

[VampHeartless]

My brother had a serious digestive condition...almost killed him when he was a newborn. I remember my parents telling me I might not have a little brother anymore, when I was like 5. He got over it, grew up fine, then at 20, it hit him again, and he almost died again. There's nothing we could have done to prevent it...it just randomly happened, and we had to deal with it. We were lucky that he came out okay both times.

 

[JadenLayne]

Paige I'm a worry wart too! Always have been! Especially since my son is my only child (for now see siggie.) I've also aspired to "let go" as he gets older but its so hard! Hes still my baby, even though he would have rolled his eyes at that remark.

 

[Rajah]

I'm not a doctor or anything, but my understanding is that having a defect just means that *sometime*, *somewhere*, the defect could cause heart failure. But not every physical exhertion will cause a problem. So no, having a child be very active and be okay does not mean that they always will be or they are lacking in any defects.

 

[meshmar]

.....if you wondered if your child had a congenital heart defect that can cause heart failure of some type, (like the one who died on RNRC) would you be able to rule that out (for the most part) experientially by having had your child on previous amusement park rides in sports and so on? Or would it be just a ticking time bomb and you would never know when or if it would happen?

Any medical people?

Sort of a medical person (retired firefighter/paramedic) ...

Some can be detected by an EKG, but as another poster mentions, that will only detect the electrical signal itself. In other words, if their is an electrical problem (conduction deficits, etc) then it MAY be seen at an early stage. Most of these would be treated by medications and/or pacemakers. BTW, PAT (Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia) is one of these electrical problems, and most commonly IS treated with a beta blocker.

Some can only be detected through more extensive (and usually invasive) testing, such as heart catherization. These, as noted by another poster, can be dangerous. These tests would show defects in the heat itself, such as valve problems (prolapsed valves, etc), holes between heart chambers (most often detected in infants - but not always!), or other structural defects such as cardiomyopathy. Such testing is only warrented if there is some indication for such due to their inherent dangers. I certainly wouldn't want to subject a child to such tests without some undelying reason.

As far as requesting an EKG ... most DRs MAY order one, but don't expect the insurance to cover it without a valid reason other than the parent's request.

 

[CJRN]

First, thoughts & prayers with the family that lost their son

I wonder if he suffered long QT interval-this seems to be the invisble heart problem that is found when a seemingly healthy child/young adult dies-let me try to explain this(as I remember it), the heart has electrical charge, oh heck, let me google it....here you go http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4637heck

"My younger brother has PAT.........don't ask me for the words!" sounds like premature atrial tacchycardia

I do not know of any regular pediatrician that have EKG machines in the office, but I would also feel better if it could become part of the routine physical. Matter of fact, my son had surgery, mild, but still has general anesthesia.....I wish I would have thought to have the hospital run a paper strip tht I could have kept

 

[JadenLayne]

Thankfully my Dr. works in a large office (Clinic) where they have access to all of these machines. I'm really seriously going to ask for my son to have one. It would just make me feel better to know I had at least taken one step.

 

[paigevz]

First, thoughts & prayers with the family that lost their son

I wonder if he suffered long QT interval-this seems to be the invisble heart problem that is found when a seemingly healthy child/young adult dies-let me try to explain this(as I remember it), the heart has electrical charge, oh heck, let me google it....here you go http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4637heck

"My younger brother has PAT.........don't ask me for the words!" sounds like premature atrial tacchycardia

I do not know of any regular pediatrician that have EKG machines in the office, but I would also feel better if it could become part of the routine physical. Matter of fact, my son had surgery, mild, but still has general anesthesia.....I wish I would have thought to have the hospital run a paper strip tht I could have kept

My comp won't open it......................say it has to know where it comes from or somethng.....................

 

[paigevz]

Sort of a medical person (retired firefighter/paramedic) ...

BTW, PAT (Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia) is one of these electrical problems, and most commonly IS treated with a beta blocker.

Does this pose a risk? My brother is not taking anything for his.
Is there a familial link? I guess there must be, I just realized, my uncle also has it. Does that mean our kids are at risk, and like I already asked, is it something to worry about/get checked for?

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Any idea what would cause a person to have a feeling that they were going to "black out" on a non-looping roller coaster (I actually felt that I couldn't see for a couple seconds, but didn't feel like I'd passed out--hard to explain)? My son and I both had the same sensation on the new Italian Job Turbo Coaster at Kings Dominion recently at launch. It was bumpy at the beginning--no loops, but very fast.

I have low blood pressure and figured that along with the fast launch lowered my blood pressure even more, creating the strange feeling. I don't know if my son also has low blood pressure or not. We went on it again later, but he was fine that time. I was better, but still dizzy.

BTW, I will go on pretty much any type of coaster and the only type I don't like/can't handle are the real rough/jerky coasters because they cause migraines, so I am no ride chicken by any means. Any my son (12yo) will ride any coaster. Oh, and according to my 18yo DD, when she was at Kings Dominion earlier in the week, she had the same feeling.