tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9081519913102459229.post598428483758870717..comments2023-06-05T04:26:43.187-07:00Comments on Losing Calista : Across the wide blue straights: Resolution and DirectionBryce Fleminghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09030624722160683166noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9081519913102459229.post-49157528853216344402013-06-04T18:26:28.449-07:002013-06-04T18:26:28.449-07:00Thanks, Bryce! If I had it to do over again, I th...Thanks, Bryce! If I had it to do over again, I think I too would have become an MD instead of a DVM. But what's done is done, and some good things came out of my DVM...but on to other and hopefully better (for me) things.<br /><br />I had no idea that the number of young people dying of SADS was so much higher than those dying in drunk-driving accidents. I wish you the best in raising awareness about SADS. I'm a major advocate of having everyone learn CPR who is physically capable of it. Same with learning to use an AED. If people on-scene don't know what to do, and act on it, by the time the EMTs get there, it's too late.<br /><br />I'm just so, so sorry that this will come too late for "your girl". Petuniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16304522265105244481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9081519913102459229.post-8526000943587073802013-06-02T11:51:08.844-07:002013-06-02T11:51:08.844-07:00This deserves public address. I hope I am not just...This deserves public address. I hope I am not just repeating myself since I already sent a note to you personally. The analyisis of the child-hood ECG by my brothers sits at the heart of the matter. You see, there never was any ECG done despite the fact she had fainted for no obvious cause twice. The doctor assumed (as is frequently the case) that she had suffered some sort of seizure. He never investigated a cardiac issue. This is typical of most GP's and has become a life-quest for me: cure the ignorance at least in the GP.<br />Here are some sobering numbers. Seven hundred youth under the age of 30 die every year in Canada due to Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome or Sudden Cardiac Arrest Syndrome. Numbers world-wide are comparable. Look at the number of youth that die due to drunk-driving: about 330 youth under the age of 25 die ever year in Canada due to drunk drivers. Each and every one of those deaths is trumpeted on the front page of every newspaper. Meanwhile the deaths due to SADS go silently unobservered.If I had not spoken up and demanded recognition, Calista's death would have caused barely a ripple. As it is, I intent to keep stomping my feet until a great Tsunami is created. These deaths cannot continue to be ignored and we need to save at least some of these kids. It can be done.<br />The first thing that needs doing it to raise the profile of the disease. Make parents aware of SADS and get children at-risk screened for it. Get coaches and teachers aware of SADS, it's signs and what to do they see a Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Make sure Automated External Defibrilators are available at every sports venue and the staff know how and when to use them. <br />This sort of thing is already happening. In the USA no less than 8 states have already passed laws requiring parental awareness of SADS/ SCA, requiring coaches to be trained in identifying athletes at risk and requireing athletes at risk to be suspended from training and competition until they are duly cleared by a properly performed full cardiology study. Simon's Fund in Pennsylvania has been established to provide funding for cardiology screening for students identified as "at risk". On the other side of the coin, Coroner's offices are changing their policies for unexplained deaths; now frozen sections of organs appropriate for DNA analysis must be saved from each autopsy. This was not done for my Calista and I am going to get that policy changed through aggressive lobbying.<br />Congradulations on taking control of your life. While veterinary medicine has it's high points, in the end, I believe you will find greater satisfaction from nursing. I know that if I had a choice I would return to school and become an MD, if for not other reason than to get those stubborn ignorant men to actually listen to my diatribe on SADS.Bryce Fleminghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09030624722160683166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9081519913102459229.post-69023275767675847942013-06-01T20:32:56.692-07:002013-06-01T20:32:56.692-07:00Bryce, I've read all of your entries and all I...Bryce, I've read all of your entries and all I can really say is how sorry I am for your and Roni's immeasurable loss.<br /><br />I hope you will post again once the photography show has happened, and let us know how it went. What a kind, thoughtful person Trish is.<br /><br />I also wonder...did your brothers ever find anything out from Calista's cardiology study? And shame on the coroner for not waiting to include that study.<br /><br />Robin (former VINner, future RN, because I chose to re-write my life instead of sticking with something at which I was not happy)Petuniahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16304522265105244481noreply@blogger.com