I know this is a writing site, but I have a personal situation that I am seeking an expert that works with the heart. If someone is offended by this, please forgive me and you can certainly delete this post if needed. Right now I am desperately seeking answers.
On July 1st, my 16 year old daughter went for a walk/jog around our neighborhood path. She collapsed, but never regained consciousness. After being rushed to the hospital by ambulance, she later died at the hospital. Because she was a child, they automatically require an autopsy.
Although a final "diagnosis" hasn't come in yet, I've been in close contact with the Medical Examiner who's doing the autopsy. When my daughter started the 8th grade she decided to play soccer, but she had to quit half way due to breathing issues. She was diagnosed with sports asthma and was given an inhaler. When that wasn't helping, she was put on a "preventative" inhaler that she did once every day. That went on for about two years with her "regular" inhaler needing to be upped every few months. Last winter, the doctor referred her to an asthma specialist. He put her on another inhaler. When that wasn't working, he put her on the strongest inhaler available. When that still didn't work, last April, he decided, "Well, let's test her to see if she actually has asthma." You can imagine my husband's response, since he was the one who took her. Well, she never had asthma.
So that doctor sent her to another. This doctor met with her once, listened to all her symptoms, and did a general exam. The doctor then told my daughter, "Well, I'm going to save your dad some money. You have Vocal Cord Dysfunction." (Something most people have never heard of, including us.) The doctor said no test was needed; she sees 100 cases a month of it.
However, during the autopsy, it proved once again that she never had asthma or VCD! Evidently there was a lot of fungus (of which we all have, I've learned) around an enlarged lymph node. The coronary arteries were normal in size from the outside, but the insides were extremely narrow so when she exercised or was stressed, those arteries narrowed even further.
I told the autopsy doctor that my husband is basically saying that she had a heart attack at sixteen. The doctor said, "Well...yes." She said she usually sees this in 60, 70, and 80 year olds. Not in a seemingly healthy sixteen year old.
We don't know where the fungus came from, but there is a "small risk" that my husband, myself, and our other two children could have "it" too. She said it's an auto immune disorder, a form of vasculitis, which she says is genetic. She has sent all her tests and slides to the Mayo Clinic here in Minnesota for their opinion. Can't get any better than that I think.
Is it possible that the asthma inhalers, which are basically a steroid, could they have caused or increased the issues with our daughter's heart??? She was on these inhalers for over two years.
If anyone can help or offer advice, we would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
W2A
On July 1st, my 16 year old daughter went for a walk/jog around our neighborhood path. She collapsed, but never regained consciousness. After being rushed to the hospital by ambulance, she later died at the hospital. Because she was a child, they automatically require an autopsy.
Although a final "diagnosis" hasn't come in yet, I've been in close contact with the Medical Examiner who's doing the autopsy. When my daughter started the 8th grade she decided to play soccer, but she had to quit half way due to breathing issues. She was diagnosed with sports asthma and was given an inhaler. When that wasn't helping, she was put on a "preventative" inhaler that she did once every day. That went on for about two years with her "regular" inhaler needing to be upped every few months. Last winter, the doctor referred her to an asthma specialist. He put her on another inhaler. When that wasn't working, he put her on the strongest inhaler available. When that still didn't work, last April, he decided, "Well, let's test her to see if she actually has asthma." You can imagine my husband's response, since he was the one who took her. Well, she never had asthma.
So that doctor sent her to another. This doctor met with her once, listened to all her symptoms, and did a general exam. The doctor then told my daughter, "Well, I'm going to save your dad some money. You have Vocal Cord Dysfunction." (Something most people have never heard of, including us.) The doctor said no test was needed; she sees 100 cases a month of it.
However, during the autopsy, it proved once again that she never had asthma or VCD! Evidently there was a lot of fungus (of which we all have, I've learned) around an enlarged lymph node. The coronary arteries were normal in size from the outside, but the insides were extremely narrow so when she exercised or was stressed, those arteries narrowed even further.
I told the autopsy doctor that my husband is basically saying that she had a heart attack at sixteen. The doctor said, "Well...yes." She said she usually sees this in 60, 70, and 80 year olds. Not in a seemingly healthy sixteen year old.
We don't know where the fungus came from, but there is a "small risk" that my husband, myself, and our other two children could have "it" too. She said it's an auto immune disorder, a form of vasculitis, which she says is genetic. She has sent all her tests and slides to the Mayo Clinic here in Minnesota for their opinion. Can't get any better than that I think.
Is it possible that the asthma inhalers, which are basically a steroid, could they have caused or increased the issues with our daughter's heart??? She was on these inhalers for over two years.
If anyone can help or offer advice, we would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
W2A
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