This wahine is one hell of an outstanding young athlete, paddler and mom. How devastating the news, but wow, she got medical attention right away before anything worse happened. Imagine training at her elite level all these years, and only recently finding this out:
Alright Eckhardt, any advice? Short of getting one implanted, are there any waterproof defibrillators available?
Submitted by koacanoe on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 7:12am
Wow, this stinks. I think it's related to a lot of these young kids (football, track, etc.) who are generally healthy kids...who drop dead on the field during a practice session, etc. Out of the blue. I have learned that there's a move under foot for young kids to have a "cardicac workup"..to include an baseline EKG and echocardiagram.
My knowledge base isn't cardiac, but I have friends who are cardiologists and work in EP labs, etc. I couldn't understand her..but was she saying that she has to give up her highly active lifestyle indefinitly? I'm assuming she had some kind of a dysrhythmia (rapid a-fib, etc.) or was having runs of "v-tach" or the like, which was giving her symptoms....and then had a "defibrillator" implanted. I know sometimes they can do an "ablation" of the area of the heart that's causing the dysrhythmia. Again..I don't know much about this at all...but am interested in her situation AS an athlete AND what the treatment options are AND how they relate to us w/ very active, strenuous training lifestyles. Sure, I would do anything to prolong my life (especially as a husband and father) but it would really SUCK to have to change the lifestyle we've all strived for..and have become accustomed to. I hope she makes out okay.
#1 Mon, 12/21/2009 - 5:31am
Hey, on a related note: I've been dealing w/ borderline hypertension (high blood pressure) for years. I've recently started on meds to control it (I'm already very active, not overweight, eat relatively well (no salt, low fat), etc.). In my case it seems to be hereditary. I work in the neuroligical arena and have seen the ravages of stroke, etc. related to uncontrolled high blood pressure. My question is this. One of the first line meds for hypertension is a diuretic (HCTZ). This tends to make you lose vascular volume...OR water. I've researched what affect this may have on us as endurance athletes who generally strive to hydrate during a long race. There isn't much info out there. Many health care pros (Docs) do not have much of an understanding as to what the effects of certain medications will have on the "elite" athlete as opposed to the "weekend warrior". I've found some info on cycling and marathon forums. Any of you (especially you older cats like me) have anything to add to this? I don't want to preach...but don't mess around with letting your high blood pressure go. Also, I hope I'm not hijacking this thread. I am hoping that we can learn something from Lisa's situation and prevent a problem before it happens.
#2 Mon, 12/21/2009 - 6:07am
I noticed my blood pressure increasing to "pre-hypertension" during peak season once i got to my 30's, I started the low sodium diet and cut out alcohol, both of which was not easy to do as a paddler, but I think it did help. Another helpful step was to increase my low HR training on my own, even thou the club was focusing on high HR at the time, I would hit the bike for a 30 min a day at a 130 HR.
I felt as thou something hindered my recovery and kept me from reaching athletic potential, so I began to research additional steps etc. I did find that HBP does occur among elite athletes, especially those who partake in high stress exercise, high HR interval training or heavy lifting, although it almost always comes back to hereditary conditions.
A friend of mine passed over while training for a triathlon a few years ago, he was 28 and in amazing shape, the autopsy report concluded he died of an "enlarged heart" or something to that affect. So what, he over trained to death? I didn't get it. But sure made me think.
There are natural supplements that also help; Coq10, garlic, Fish oil
http://www.naturalmedicine.com/healthnotes.php?org=nmr&ContentID=1033009
#3 Mon, 12/21/2009 - 12:52pm
Great to hear she's doing fine - a wonderful blessed christmas indeed
#4 Mon, 12/21/2009 - 4:44pm
This is almost two years old and she is paddling and wopping ass still.
#5 Mon, 12/21/2009 - 8:28pm
That's Lisa steering the Open and Master Women in the Vaka Eiva Iron videos 3 weeks ago. But you guys don't watch girl paddling videos do you or else you would know. ...hehehe Actually, the 2 womens iron videos are probably the best ones.
R
#6 Mon, 12/21/2009 - 9:10pm