Son of 8 years struggling to do cross country running

My son of 7 years old has had a pacemaker since he was 6 months old (Congenital Heart Block). He had a replacement one in October last year. He is now in school and started to do cross counrty running. He is a very active child but when doing a 1km run struggles to keep up with the kids and comes last - says his chest hurts. Wondering if anyone has a child that runs and can offer some advice?

2 Comments

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by Tracey_E - 2009-05-12 10:05:11

I'm not a runner or a child but it's common for active people with heart blocks to hit the upper limit of the pacemaker and need it set higher. When they do his check, they should be able to tell. If not, a quick stress test will show them what happens when he runs.

With a block, the atrial rate is perfectly normal but the ventricle only keeps up as high as the pm is programmed. So, if it's set at 130 and his heart is getting up to 140, he'll have problems keeping up. If that's what it is, it's a very easy fix!

He should stop when his chest hurts.

train sensibly, but don't let a pm hinder the athlete

by gevans - 2009-05-29 07:05:13

There is a HS sophomore running some amazing times in California with a pacemaker. He's just gotten a new box and they are changing some of the settings to accommodate his tremendous aerobic capacity. Check out Drew on CardiacAthletes.org. In fact, that site has plenty of marathoners, triathletes, bikers, ultra runners, and swimmers doing some fantastic things. Having a pacemaker does not have to result in much of an alteration to an active lifestyle.

Gary

You know you're wired when...

Your kids call you Cyborg.

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I have a well tuned pacer. I hardly know I have it. I am 76 year old, hike and camp alone in the desert. I have more energy than I have had in a long time. The only problem is my wife wants to have a knob installed so she can turn the pacer down.