Teen with heart condition and football

[grob3]

Does anyone know of support groups or other associations that deal with teens who have heart conditions and sports.  My nephew has a congenital heart defect (had surgery as a kid) and now his cardio doc says he is OK.  He has played other sports like baseball and roller hockey (minimum contact).  However, his big wish is to play football at the high school level.  His doc is concerned about the training involved may be too much for him...  Please let me know if any one has any thoughts, advice or guidance here or experienced the same issue).  Thank you....

[grob3]

Thank you very much.  I never knew that doc existed.  Very helpful!!!!!

[grob3]

Thank you again and I appreciate your honest words.  Sounds like you have a good life....

[grendslori]

There is something else I forgot to mention as well. There is a guideline for pediatric cardiologists to foll where it is listed the form of congenital heart disease, what the Grading is and the type of sports that would be allowed, if any to go along with the condition. Because of the number of kids being seen, most pc have that list pretty much burned in their brains. The parents really need to pin their pc down and get a more solid answer to what is expected and what is not as far as playing football. My own daughter was restricted from playing in any sports or even being allowed to participate in gym class throughout her school years. We were told upfront: no sports, no gym class.

[ireneo]

I hope the doctor can give him some clear answers. We don't know what the congenital condition was or if the surgery left any scar tissue that may affect the electrical function of his heart (arrhythmias). You just mentioned that his doctor was concerned. This is more critical than trying to run after knee surgery. If it hurts, you stop. But if the heart acts up, who knows how it will turn out. I wish your nephew a wonderful life filled with great adventures and completed goals.

Sometimes we don't get to do everything we want but we can still do a lot. I've never been able to run or climb hills because of my goofy heart but I have a wonderful marriage (38 years), raised 3 terrific kids and have worked with wildlife for 21 years. That beats running a marathon any day.

[grob3]

Thank you as that is very insightful....

[grendslori]

The best person to ask about this would be his pediatric cardiologist. Young people can die on the sport's field however, those teens usually have undiagnosed muscle disease of the heart. This is different than having a heart 'condition' that is curable with surgery. If there is a threat to a youngster playing sports, the cardiologist lets the family know about this upfront; they let you know right away. All sports, or at least most sports are taken away as soon as a problem that could be life threatening is discovered. I would not rule out football without his doctor being the one to say it is out of the question and based on what you have written on here, that doesn't sound like that's the case. Have the parents talk to his doctor.

[ireneo]

Since his heart is already compromised from a congenital condition and surgery, he may have to shift his dreams of HS football to something else. There are too many young guys out there who have appeared perfectly normal only to experience dangerous arrhythmias while playing intense sports like this. His heart is already less than perfect. Football isn't as important as his life. I know he may disagree with me. But he has a life time of experiences ahead of him. Football is just one small part. I'd encourage him to listen to his doctor.