Fund in Memory of Tracy McArthur

It started on December 1, 2009. My daughter, Morgan, was 12 years old and out of the blue she passed out in our kitchen. I took her to the ER where test after test was performed, noticing they were paying particular attention to her heart. 9 hours later, we were told that on all of Morgan's EKG's it showed she had a borderline high LQT. More tests, more EKG's, holters, doctors, over and over again. It wasn't until we started digging into our family history and really thinking through things that we realized even as a little girl Morgan disliked running, always saying she couldn't breathe or was too tired. We did find instance of sudden death in a family member.

Our first doctor blew us off in a lot of ways. We still kept fighting, still kept digging. She refused to put Morgan on a beta blocker at the time, even though her EKG's continued to show borderline high LQT. I asked that doctor, since she was refusing to put her on a beta blocker, could she reassure me Morgan wouldn't faint and go into cardiac arrest, she said she could not reassure me of that. I learned about SADS and can honestly say they have been the greatest support for us. They helped us find doctors, get testing and provided support know one else could.

Finally someone would listen to me. Finally someone was a voice for Morgan and I. It was because of SADS, that Morgan was able to see Dr. Silvia Priori. Because at the time we lived in Colorado and we had a 1 hour window to see Dr. Priori in NYC, we weren't able to get a lot of testing done and at this point in time we still don't have a completely definitive answer on what Morgan has. Dr. Priori's team put Morgan on a beta blocker, Metoprolol tartate 25mg twice daily.

They also thought that perhaps Morgan may have something called AVNRT (Arialventricular Nodal Reentry Tachycardia.)We at least felt more at ease knowing she was on a beta blocker. She still has had fainting episodes, which are always scary, and continues to have difficulty breathing and a very high heart rate with any sort of activity. Neither Morgan nor I are completely satisfied at this point until we know that we know what is causing this. Morgan shows much courage, strength, joy, hope, tenacity, and a passion for life that is contagious. We are continually inspired by all your stories and encouragement and are ALWAYS grateful for everyone with SADS for walking on this journey with us.

Some days are better than others, as I write this today, it was a bad day. Morgan is in high school and was being picked on by other students because she can't participate in physical activities. She was even told she was lying about her condition. There are always hurdles, but everyday we are thankful! We will keep searching until we have definitive answers! Blessings to all of you! The attached picture is of Morgan with her older sister, Hannah, in the background.