A high school athlete was having syncopal episodes which continued in his college years. He was told it was nothing, low blood pressure, dehydration. Fast forward ten years. That young athlete marries a cardiology nurse who sent him to his doctor after his first syncopal episode after being married. After further testing he was diagnosed with a Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy at the age of 39. Two years later, he had another syncopal episode that was fatal leaving his wife with two young daughters, ages six and nine. The oldest daughter was later diagnosed with v-fib at the age of fourteen. Her cardiologist had carefully studied her dad’s EKG’s and noticed that the young athlete’s EKG in front of him was beginning to take on some of the same patterns as her dad’s. After EP studies revealed she had v-fib, an ICD was implanted and her mother was feeling blessed that her daughter’s arrhythmia was diagnosed early since her daughter was an active lacrosse and soccer athlete at the time. I am that mom. After my daughter recovered from the shock of being diagnosed with her father’s diagnosis, we slowly began to rebuild all of our lives. She is twenty-two now, a college graduate and headed to Poland to teach English in the spring of 2017. The path to get her to this point has not been easy. Her ICD has held her back from getting a job in law enforcement so she will take some time to teach English as a second language and then off to graduate school in the fall. I no longer work in a clinical setting. I am a CPR Instructor and have my own Grief and Wellness Practice. My goal is to educate the public, as well as high school athletes, trainers, coaches and parents about the importance of knowing CPR and how to use an AED and the significance of having their child screened. I have contacted the school board to begin the screening process for the high schools in our community. I cannot help but think if these screenings had been available for my husband, if things would be different. I like to think they would. Deb
Dear Deb,
Thank you for sharing your story. I am so sorry to hear about your husband. ICD’s do place restrictions on us, like when you talked about your daughter being restricted from entering Law-Enforcement; it has prevented me from doing simple things that I once took for granted. You are doing beautiful work; screenings for various heart conditions, CPR, and knowledge of how to use AED’s is so vital and important! -Mike
Thank you Mike for your kind words. I tell my daughter and others I provide grief support for, that our adversities do not define us, but given the opportunity refines us. I hope that you have found that as well. There is a quote by C.S. Lewis that I like that goes something like this –
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny…” Deb