My 14 year-old sister's heart randomly stopped during track. . .

[HardcoreRobot]

I am probably talking out of my ass now, but i am fairly sure there is a single or set of heart problems that are easily detected by EKG. this heart problem causes these sudden cardiac arrests during physical exertion. seems like every year we hear about athletes dying from there. recently i read how some schools are pushing for mandatory screening for this. i think there was some hesitation though, even on the athletes part...surely some would risk the health consequences in order to pursue their athletic dreams... anyways, this is why there should be AED's EVERYwhere. best of luck.

 

[Krazy4Real]

Yikes man. That's tough. I couldn't imagine what you're going through right now. I really think you should just tell your teacher what is going on and get excused from class to go see her.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

http://www.heartscreenamerica....lyforheartproblems.pdf

 

[villageidiot111]

I had a friend whose heart used to stop randomly. I'm not exactly sure why this happened, but she got a pacemaker and now she is just fine.

 

[her209]

Scary.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
I am probably talking out of my ass now, but i am fairly sure there is a single or set of heart problems that are easily detected by EKG. this heart problem causes these sudden cardiac arrests during physical exertion. seems like every year we hear about athletes dying from there. recently i read how some schools are pushing for mandatory screening for this. i think there was some hesitation though, even on the athletes part...surely some would risk the health consequences in order to pursue their athletic dreams... anyways, this is why there should be AED's EVERYwhere. best of luck.

AEDs should be everywhere, but they will only help if the heart goes into an abnormal rhythm. If the heart actually stops beating, a non-Hospital grade AED will do nothing.

 

[0roo0roo]

yea they don't stop. if the chambers go out of sync then the effect is about the same. the shock paddles don't start hearts. it resets them.

 

[alchemize]

I'm not a doctor, but I am a parent of a child with a heart condition. And contrary to what our resident strip club bouncer/cardiologst/conspiracy theory expert says, hearts do stop randomly. They'll do an EKG, and they'll do an echocardiogram. Almost all heart conditions are very treatable, it's the most common birth defect. Your sister passed the toughest test - having the problem surface and surviving it. She'll be fine.

 

[Eli]

Probably a heart defect of some kind.

Be glad she didn't just drop dead, which is usually what happens in these sort of events.

Perfectly healthy teenager drops dead on the court/track/etc...

Sad.

 

[TehMac]

I'm glad your sister seems to be recovering, and I'm hoping at the very least, she'll pull through and live a healthy life again.

 

[Freshgeardude]

Many healthy people's hearts stop when they run track.


I believe 7 people died in the NY marathon race. VERY healthy people why train for the marathon.

I friend of my father died at an early age of 37 I believe, he was a track star fastest person my dad knew. On a run, his heart stopped and he died. as healthy as can be.


I do hope your sis gets better, it must be scary for her

 

[TraumaRN]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
I am probably talking out of my ass now, but i am fairly sure there is a single or set of heart problems that are easily detected by EKG. this heart problem causes these sudden cardiac arrests during physical exertion. seems like every year we hear about athletes dying from there. recently i read how some schools are pushing for mandatory screening for this. i think there was some hesitation though, even on the athletes part...surely some would risk the health consequences in order to pursue their athletic dreams... anyways, this is why there should be AED's EVERYwhere. best of luck.

AEDs should be everywhere, but they will only help if the heart goes into an abnormal rhythm. If the heart actually stops beating, a non-Hospital grade AED will do nothing.

Even a 'hospital' grade one nothing happens. We only shock an EXTREMELY limited set of cardiac rhythms. If your heart has completely stopped beating with NO electrical activity on a cardiac monitor we DO NOT shock. Period. At that point good effective CPR + ACLS drugs are your only hope.

Now about her heart she could possibly have a heart defect, possibly dilated cardiomyopathy, or a few other things. Sudden cardiac arrest has a wide differential, as we say in the ER follow your "H's"(hypovolemia, hypoxia, hydrogen ions(acidosis), hyper/hypokalemia, hypothermia, hypo/hyperglycemia) and "T's"(tablets, toxins, cardiac tamponade, tension pneumothorax, thrombosis, thromboembolism, trauma)

But good luck to the OP and glad they were able to bring her back and get her to a hospital. And to be honest most children(14 yr olds included) will have a sudden respiratory failure BEFORE cardiac arrest. So anyways. Good luck OP

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I had a friend who's heart would stop during track as well. She was very fit and in high school at the time. The first time it happened was scary and sent her to the hospital, but now she just lives with it. Her heart still stopped from time to during track, but she would just wait for a bit and it would start back up again. So like an abnormally long pause...

 

[rezinn]

Hope your sister recovers quickly. It's pretty scary to be in the hospital and fear that you're dying, even after being released. She'll need a lot of support. Hopefully she just had a short spell and it helps to uncover whatever problem she has.

 

[rh71]

sometimes things happen so you know there's a worse underlying problem.

 

[rasczak]

wish your sister a speedy recovery. good luck op, and please keep us updated.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: PieIsAwesome
I just received the call while at school. Parents are at the hospital with her, apparently her heart is beating again and she is hooked up to a breathing apparatus, but they are afraid her heart will stop again. She is going to be transferred to another hospital, one more capable of treating her. This does not sound very good. . .

I do not understand how this can happen. She is perfectly healthy. WTF?

Perhaps her luck isn't as bad as I initially thought and she is lucky to be improving. . .but we shall see.

I'm not sure why I am posting this, I was stuck here in class for a bit and I feel alone. I guess I needed to vent somewhere other than my family who so far doesn't seem to be doing so well, and thanks to the internet you people can't see my composure falling apart.

I'm going to be leaving now. I hope I do not encounter anymore unfortunate surprises.

Let's say she is lucky... very lucky to be alive. I know of two kids who died of heart failure while competing in sports.

Likely they will find out what caused her heart to go into arrest and she can get it fixed.
How scary though. Good luck to her and your family.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
I had a friend who's heart would stop during track as well. She was very fit and in high school at the time. The first time it happened was scary and sent her to the hospital, but now she just lives with it. Her heart still stopped from time to during track, but she would just wait for a bit and it would start back up again. So like an abnormally long pause...

That just sounds like an arrhythmia. You don't just "wait for your heart to start back up again." If your heart truly stops, you die. If it has an extended pause, it's an arrhythmia or something, resulting in palpitation.

 

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: darkxshade

Originally posted by: BW86

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
hearts don't stop randomly.

Stop posting.

In rare cases they do, as it happened to my friends mom a few weeks ago.

Best of luck to you and your family

Not as rare as you think, hearts stop randomly to the elderly almost everyday.

That's not random. They're old.

To the OP, it could be any number of things. Hopefully the diagnosticians at the hospital will work it on out. Best of luck to you and your family!

 

[StinkyPinky]

Good luck man. I have an irregular heartbeat that surfaces quite often. An uncomfortable feeling to say the least - the cardiologist assures me it is benign...I wonder sometimes. Good luck and hopefully she just needs something like a pacemaker.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: lyssword
Get dr. house on it, he will try to find out what's wrong with her and while doing that he will insult you with clever jokes.

I don't watch the show enough to know if something like this has already been done, but I'd love to see one where a patient stumps him (not talking about the diagnosis of the ailment) and he can't find a way to insult them.

 

[dguy6789]

I hope things work out for your sister.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: DeathBUA
Even a 'hospital' grade one nothing happens. We only shock an EXTREMELY limited set of cardiac rhythms. If your heart has completely stopped beating with NO electrical activity on a cardiac monitor we DO NOT shock. Period. At that point good effective CPR + ACLS drugs are your only hope.

Now about her heart she could possibly have a heart defect, possibly dilated cardiomyopathy, or a few other things. Sudden cardiac arrest has a wide differential, as we say in the ER follow your "H's"(hypovolemia, hypoxia, hydrogen ions(acidosis), hyper/hypokalemia, hypothermia, hypo/hyperglycemia) and "T's"(tablets, toxins, cardiac tamponade, tension pneumothorax, thrombosis, thromboembolism, trauma)

But good luck to the OP and glad they were able to bring her back and get her to a hospital. And to be honest most children(14 yr olds included) will have a sudden respiratory failure BEFORE cardiac arrest. So anyways. Good luck OP

Awesome post DeathBUA. I'd also like to wish the OP and his sister the best.

 

[PokerGuy]

Originally posted by: skace

Originally posted by: DeathBUA
Even a 'hospital' grade one nothing happens. We only shock an EXTREMELY limited set of cardiac rhythms. If your heart has completely stopped beating with NO electrical activity on a cardiac monitor we DO NOT shock. Period. At that point good effective CPR + ACLS drugs are your only hope.

Now about her heart she could possibly have a heart defect, possibly dilated cardiomyopathy, or a few other things. Sudden cardiac arrest has a wide differential, as we say in the ER follow your "H's"(hypovolemia, hypoxia, hydrogen ions(acidosis), hyper/hypokalemia, hypothermia, hypo/hyperglycemia) and "T's"(tablets, toxins, cardiac tamponade, tension pneumothorax, thrombosis, thromboembolism, trauma)

But good luck to the OP and glad they were able to bring her back and get her to a hospital. And to be honest most children(14 yr olds included) will have a sudden respiratory failure BEFORE cardiac arrest. So anyways. Good luck OP

Awesome post DeathBUA. I'd also like to wish the OP and his sister the best.

Yes, :thumbsup: for an actual informed post. It's good to have people who actually know what they're talking about posting useful information, as opposed to the usual babble the rest of us (myself included) tend to engage in.

 

[Vehemence]

Is it inappropriate to ask for :camera:s ?