对于一名11岁的冰球运动员来说，呼吸困难意味着心脏有问题

Two years after a chance outing with a friend at an ice rink, 杰克·伯纳姆(Jake Burnam)已经从一个努力与一项运动建立联系的人变成了一个曲棍球发电机. He'd skate up to four nights a week.

Jake tried out for his team's "gold" squad. Moving up in caliber meant he needed to be at his best. Yet he wasn't even at his normal level.

“他一直在找不滑冰的理由，说他上气不接下气,罗斯蒂·伯纳姆说, 杰克的爸爸.

然后，当他在圣路易斯市的学校体育课上跑圈时. Joseph, Missouri, Jake passed out. He was unconscious for about 30 seconds.

By the time Rusty and Jake's mom, 冬青, 到达学校, Jake was alert and seemed back to normal. Following the advice of the EMTs, they took Jake to his pediatrician. The problem was thought to be dehydration. 拉什蒂和霍莉鼓励杰克多喝水，他又恢复了正常的滑冰计划.

A month later, Jake passed out again. This time, he was unconscious for about 3 minutes.

Jake was taken to the emergency room, 因为心电图异常，他被送到一个多小时车程外的堪萨斯城儿童医院做进一步检查.

第二天, Rusty和冬青得到了诊断:他们当时11岁的儿子患有肥厚性心肌病(HCM)。, 一种遗传性疾病，他的心肌变得异常厚, making it harder to efficiently pump blood.

HCM是最常见的遗传性心脏病，可以在任何年龄表现出来. Children or young adults with the condition may have no symptoms, yet be at high risk for sudden cardiac death.

医生告诉伯纳姆夫妇，杰克在运动时呼吸急促和两次昏厥是他的心脏在努力向身体输送足够的含氧血液的信号.

几个月前，杰克打棒球时曾出现过呼吸急促的症状. At the time, he was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma. 吸入器似乎有一点帮助，但症状并没有完全消失. 回顾, 霍莉意识到，即使有证据表明可能是其他原因导致的，她也过于接受了这个诊断.

“现在，当我的孩子抱怨什么不对的时候，我就会问更多的问题，”她说. "I don't take anything for granted."

由于HCM通常是遗传的，杰克的诊断引发了对整个家族的基因检测. 拉什蒂和霍莉被发现有增加HCM风险的遗传标记. The mutation was passed on to Jake but skipped his sister, Brycie.

Jake spent more than a week in the hospital undergoing more testing. Because his condition can lead to a dangerous irregular heart rhythm, he received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, 或ICD. The device shocks his heart if it gets into a dangerous rhythm.

虽然植入ICD后的身体恢复需要几天沙巴足球体育平台，但情绪上的损失却持续了数月. 在接受诊断的过程中，杰克一直在焦虑中挣扎，他意识到自己出了什么可怕的问题.

For two months, he rarely attended school.

"I felt weak and unable to function," Jake said. He worried people would treat him differently.

Just as he was easing back into regular attendance, 大流行来袭, sending students home to learn virtually. 杰克仍在与焦虑作斗争，他混过了学年的尾声和六年级的大部分沙巴足球体育平台.

拉什蒂说:“在确诊之前，他是一个全a的孩子，热爱学校. After, however, "he just wasn't motivated."

去年春天回到校园，杰克在课间休息时慢跑上山，然后昏倒了. A shock from his ICD revived him. 下山找老师第二次触发了ICD. While the experience was frightening, 没有遇到任何问题的经历让杰克更加自信.

“这很可怕，但我松了一口气，因为除颤器救了我，”他说.

Today, Jake is a thriving 13-year-old in seventh grade. 每六个月，心脏病专家和电生理学家会监测他的病情.

"I'm pretty positive," he said. “我有医生，他们知道如何治疗我的心脏病，并发现是否有什么问题. Otherwise, I'm just a normal kid."

There are some limits, though.

杰克使用带有心脏监测器的可穿戴健身追踪器来确保他的心率不会太高. 他仍然去滑冰和滑旱冰，但他还没有获准打曲棍球. He started playing golf, and he's discovered a love for music. He plays the clarinet in the school band and the violin at home.

"He's just a changed child," 冬青 said. "He's just ready to do it all. We can finally let the air out and relax."

发自内心的故事 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.

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