Hi. I'm new here. This story goes back about a year. My nephew, then 14 started having chest pains (he is also a juvenile diabetic) and every time they asked the drs about the pain, they just poo pood it away and said, you have nothing to worry about, he's too young for a heart attack. Well, about 2 weeks ago he got bad "indigestion" and no amount of Malox was going to help it. Then on June 4, my brother and SIL were out shopping and Chris called them to tell them how bad he was hurting in his chest and down his arm, and felt like his heart was going to explode. So my brother and SIL rush home, take him to an ER, then sit in the parking lot for 15 minutes to convince Chris he wasn't going to have to have a prostate exam (LOL), poor kid didn't want his privates messed with. After they convinced him, they went inside. Well, the drs there said they could run some basic tests, but since he is 15 he needs to go to Children's for further treatment. Well, his enzymes were way up and he had an abnormal EKG. So they decide to transfer him via ambulance. (They get to Children's call us to tell us where he is, and we make the hour long drive down there. I was scheduled for spinal fusion surgery the next day, so I took everything with me). Well, Children's kept saying they didn't know what they were going to do with him as he is 6'1" and weighs over 200 lbs. They just aren't equipped to treat a child in a man's body. So they continue to run tests, do the enzyme test 3 times that night, hoping for it to be a fluke. Well we sat up all night, then had to go to my surgery. While I was out, they called and said he was being transferred to UAB, the major teaching hospital around here. UAB was going to do the cut down to the groin and camera up into the heart. Chris talks them out of it, and they decide to do a CT with contrast to see if anything looks off.

They then transfer him back to Children's but do put him in a private room instead of the step down ward from ICU. It all boiled down to the cardio from Children's and UAB to get together and decide what was going on. He had a mild heart attack, and will have a stress test done today to see about the damage. They may still do the cut down/camera thing, but so far it isn't scheduled.

My question is this, how do we explain to a 15 YO that his life is forever changed by a heart attack, and him understand. We can't even get a grip on it, so I can't imagine how he feels. I mean 15 YO!!!!!!!!!!!! They still don't know why it happened, but have put him on daily meds, a strict diet, and right now bed rest. He's an active child. He lives to skateboard.

Will he have skateboarding in his future? Will he ever lead a normal life? How do we discuss this with him, when we don't understand it ourselves. My brother said it finally hit Chris night before last what had happened and some of the effects and he got upset and crying. I know that isn't good for him.

Any words of advice are appreciated. Prayers are more than welcome. We need all we can get. I mean, here I am, 1 week out from major surgery, and we are dealing with this.

Hugs!!
Mitchelle
(Michelle)