My 17 yr old daughter had a heart attack*UPDATE 5/24/17*

**Update 5/24/17**

Just thought I would give a current update. mom thanks for asking.

Kait had a CT scan last week, exactly 3 months to the day of her heart attack. The results were not what we or the doctor was expecting. Apparently part of her artery has healed completely but another part has not healed at all and is restricting blood flow to her heart. He has referred her to a doctor at the Mayo Clinic that specializes in SCAD (spontaneous coronary artery dissection) she will need to have a procedure to open her artery. Apparently it is not something that this group of doctors want to handle and her doctor said if Kait were his daughter that he would want her to have it done at the Mayo Clinic where they have the best of the best. I am still trying to process all of this information while we wait to hear from the new doctor.

On a lighter note....she is doing great. She said she almost feels normal but she does get tired quicker than she used to. She has her first real boyfriend. He is a sweet boy that treats her like a princess. He knows her limitations and it doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest. If a bunch of kids want to go hiking he wont go because Kaitlyn can't go and they go and do something else.

We are headed out of Alaska in a couple weeks to go to her and her brothers liver doc in Seattle and then we are going on vacation to California to get my sis and head out on a road trip to Portland. This is something Kaitlyn has been looking forward to for months.

**Update 3/7/17**

I have not been around much but wanted to let you all know that she is doing pretty good. She is doing well physically and getting stronger each day. Emotionally she has had a few dark days. I let her cry and she tells me how she is feeling. What she went through would be hard for an adult and with her only being 17 I can't even imagine how scary that must have been.

She went to the cardiologist yesterday and he told her how strong and brave she was. He told her that her most of her restrictions are only temporary. He did switch up a couple of her medications. She is taking a lot of stuff. The side effects of one of her meds is a bloody nose. Annoying for sure but not harmful.

She is transitioning into school (today is her first day) and will try it out 1/2 days to start. Next week is Spring break (even though spring is nowhere in sight!) so that will give her another week to recover.

Her best friend has been such a trooper and keeps her spirits up. Kaitlyn is worried that no one is going to invite her to do anything since she is now fragile and "that kid". I am afraid she is right. We will cross that bridge when we get to it.

I am so proud of they way she has handled this situation. I feel like I have aged 10 years!

We truly appreciate all your prayers, sweet comments, and well wishes. I know some of you asked questions that I have not answered and I apologize for that. We are still learning what all this means for now and in the future.

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original post

I can't even describe how incredibly hard that is to type out.

Last Friday she was doing a crossfit type activity and started experiencing chest pain. She at first thought it was nothing and after resting continued to work out. Then she got crushing chest pain. She texted me in a panic to come pick her up. By the time I got there (about 7 minutes) she was hyperventilating and sweating profusely. Her hands and feet were cramped up and her hands were folded inward like claws.  I scooped her up and drove immediately to the ER. I kept telling her to breath and not try and talk, I told her, "Kaitlyn, 17 year olds don't have heart attacks" I thought she was having a panic attack.

We got to the ER and they took her right in. I don't think they thought at first that she was having a heart attack either. After an abnormal EKG and ultra sound they decided that she needed to have an angiogram. They also were giving her aspirin and nitro. I couldn't believe what was happening. When I knew it was something serious I called my husband who was working out of town and tried to calmly let him know what was happening. There is no easy way to say, "Hey honey, Kait is having chest pain and is going to have an angiogram"

The cardiologist told me before they went in that it could be one of three things.

1. A spasm in the artery

2. An infection around the heart caused by a virus. (She had a fever the previous weekend)

Or #3 which is highly unlikely...a torn coronary artery.

When he came out from the procedure he was visibly shaken. She had a tear in her right coronary artery which led to heart attack. WHAT!!!  She was then transported to a hospital in Anchorage that has a cardiac unit.

She spent 5 days in the cardiac icu and then onto progressive care.

Her official diagnosis is Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection

They had considered doing surgery to put in a stent but after consulting with the cardiac team they decided that it was too risky and she could have ended up in what they called a full metal jacket or a bypass. They likened her tear to a run in pantyhose and they were afraid that if they went in surgically that the run would have continued down the artery. She is being treated with medications to keep her blood pressure low and her blood thin as to not put any pressure on her heart.

She has been switched over from iv medications to oral. It is just so mind blowing that my sweet healthy girl is now on 5 different kinds of heart meds.

I have never been so scared in my life. For the first few days I was just completely numb and was just trying to be a constant calming and positive influence on my daughter who was so scared and emotional.

She is doing better now. We came home last night. Her life is now changed. She has to rest and can't put any extra pressure on her heart. She can't be in the cold, she can't exercise, she can't dance at prom, she can't yell at basketball games. I have been focusing on the things that she can do and that these restrictions are temporary until she heals. She is gets tired from getting up and walking a lap around the unit. She is upset that just a couple days she was running and now she cant do anything exercise wise. She is strong and young and those things will be on her side.

So much went on I am sure I am leaving out details.

If you are the praying kind we would appreciated prayer and good thoughts coming her way. God has been with her in the good times and the bad.