Age of diagnosis ...

[Lisa Salberg]

Let us take a look to see how old you/your loved one was when they were diagnosed?
If more then one family member has HCM please pick one person to answer for.

[Sarah]

13

I was 13 and went to the pediatrician for a sore throat when he found a tiny murmur. He told my mom and she said "Welcome to the club." ha ha.

It wasn't called HCM then, it was still IHSS and then in college, it was familial HCM.

It was 1981.

S

[Tim Stewart]

Lynn was diagnosed at 31. She became very symptomatic two years prior when she was pregnant with our only child. She now can look back and remember being S.O.B. in her late teens.

[Dolly W]

I was also diagnosed in 1981 with IHSS, I was 17 at the time. I really didn't know much about it until 5 years ago when my symptoms significantly increased. Looking back I, too, can remember having symptoms as early as 12 years of age.

[Nancy Sarvis]

I was diagnosed in 1998 at the ripe young age of 38 years old. My first symptoms started when I was 17 years old. The first time I was told I had a "tiny" heart murmer I was 33. Even after EKG changes and a right sided heart cath I wasn't diagnosed. After about 5 more years I was told "That is the loudest heart murmer I"ve ever heard!" Finally an echo was done and THEN I was finally diagnosed.

[Sonja]

Bill was about 36 when he was diagnosed. Looking back he says that having HCM explained a lot about why he wasn't able to keep up with his peers (at school and early adulthood), was no good at team sports - at the time he thought that he wasn't fast enough or fit enough. Being diagnosed therefore answered a lot of questions.
Sonja

[mflanagn]

age of diagnosis

My daughter was diagnosed at 4 days old. My son was diagnosed at birth because of his sister's history. I thank god everyday for their early diagnosis. They have both had surgeries at early ages. I just think if they had not been diagnosed, how would a 3 year old tell me he was having heart trouble. That was the age my son had his first surgery. My daughter was 5.

[Reenie]

My husband was told he had a murmur at age 34. He had a sinus infection and the nurse said that sometimes when you are sick some sounds are magnified. 6 months later, around his birthday, he had a full physical. They heard the murmur again. The nurse practitioner said his EKG "looked funky" and ordered an echo. This was performed at a Japanese Self Defense Force hospital, (the equivalent of their Air Force), then the results were translated into English. Some of the terminology was odd by American standards. Maroon Type III comes to mind. Anyway, they sent him to Hawaii for confirmation of diagnosis. Looking back he said he always thought he didn't seem to have as much lung capacity as others his age who were in about the same shape.

[angeleyes]

I was diagnosed at....

i was diagnosed at age 21 but the air force doctors new a year to two years before. i had alot of symptons growing up but no one ever thought they were serious. have always had a heart murmur.
amanda

[mtlieb]

I was diagnosed with HCM at age 39, although i was found to have Mitral Valve Prolapse with Regurgitation two years ago at age 37. No other family members (two brothers, two sisters) have been diagnosed with it, although my father died from an unexplained cardiomyopathy in 1985. I suspect he had HCM. I had to get it from somewhere

[Reinhard]

Age of Diagnosis

It was around 1979 or 80. (around 29 years old).

I had gone to a cardiologist for a physical only because he was treating my father-in-law for heart failure. The cardiologist heard a murmer, performed an ekg and subsequently, when reviewing the ekg, asked me if I had ever suffered a heart attack.

Of course, I replied no. Final diagnosis......IHSS.

Reinhard

[amywill9]

age of diagnosis

I was diagnosed at age 5. My son was diagnosed at 4 months.

Amy

[Laura]

I was diagnosed at 25yo, after 3 family deaths. I had been told i had a heart murmur for years prior to being diagnosed. I fortunately hated PE in school, so i escaped it for almost the whole year in 9th grade till they realized i was not taking any of these classes. may have been a godsend.

[kenneth]

I was diagnosed at age 33, after many family members have died suddenly of cardic arrest.

[rgrin]

Officially diagnosed at age 53. Doctors did find a heart murmur in grade school but it went away. A resident at the Southwestern Medical Center noticed something when I visited the doctors office for a cold and the had the staff doctor check it out, and the rest is history.